Download PDF - Institute of Economic Affairs Ghana
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• We look at the judiciary - is there going to be an upper limit to the<br />
number <strong>of</strong> judges to the Supreme Court?<br />
• You look at decentralisation, how effective it is?<br />
• How can we make the people decide their own fate and destiny?<br />
• Now, there is also the question <strong>of</strong> Members <strong>of</strong> Parliament, should<br />
they be ministers? Can they combine it effectively?<br />
• What are we doing about Parliament, to strengthen Parliament<br />
itself, the appropriation to Parliament; the help for Parliament?<br />
These are all areas that we need to look at. We need to look at the powers<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Executive.<br />
• Do they lead to exclusion?<br />
• Is all power concentrated in the hands <strong>of</strong> the Executive?<br />
• Do people think that it’s a winner takes all affair?<br />
These are areas that we need to look at. But let me say that it is for the<br />
people to decide. Views must be sought and collated, and at the end <strong>of</strong> the<br />
day we must take decisions which will make it possible for us to move this<br />
country forward, to learn from the mistakes <strong>of</strong> the past and improve the<br />
Constitution as we go along. In other jurisdictions it’s done regularly and<br />
we should be able to do it too.<br />
Question:<br />
The district assemblies are supposed to be responsible for developmental<br />
and social issues at the local level. What measures would you introduce<br />
to deepen decentralisation <strong>of</strong> government in <strong>Ghana</strong> so that we have not<br />
just decentralisation for decentralisation’s sake but decentralisation that<br />
brings real benefit to the people?<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>. Mills:<br />
It is important that decentralisation brings power to the people. And first<br />
<strong>of</strong> all, you have to look at the demarcation exercise. Which areas will the<br />
decentralisation cover? Some things have been done in the past which<br />
have not been really effective. But you want to make sure that people have<br />
a voice in the way they are ruled, one <strong>of</strong> the things that you need to do is to<br />
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