The #Fixthecountry Movement on Saturday January 7, led hundreds of residents of Tamale in a protest to demand constitutional reforms.
The protest was in line with the ‘Constitution Day’ which falls on 7th January.
The New Patriotic Party government introduced the statutory public Holiday in 2019.
It marks the arrival of the 1992 Constitution and the birth of the Fourth Republic on 7th January in 1993.
The protesters marched through the principal streets of Tamale clad in red and holding placards. They say the time is now to review the constitution to reflect the needs of the current times.
The organizers have met with youth groups and collated signatures to forward a petition to demand constitutional reforms.
Some of the protestors who spoke to Accra-based Citi FM said Ghana deserves better.
Abdul Fataw, a youth activist, said, “We want to sound it very hard into the hearing of the leadership of the country that, the 1992 Constitution that was created to take care of Ghanaians for a very short period needs to be reviewed. I mean the true reflection of whatever was happening then has become outmoded.”
“We are agitating that the leadership of the nation should come up with a very new Constitution that will cater for the current and future needs”, another protestor said.
History of Ghanaian Constitution Day
The 1992 Constitution came into force for the Fourth Republic on January 7th 1993, after an overwhelming approval in a referendum on April 28th 1992.
January 7th is also the day heads of states take the oath of office after elections.
The day acknowledges Ghana’s collective efforts at upholding the tenets of democracy, rule of law and principles of constitutionalism.
The Fourth Republic has lasted than any of the three previous republics, which were all cut short by military intervention.
The day was made an additional holiday under Section 2 of the Public Holiday Act, 2001 (Act 601).
The holiday reminds Ghanaians of their commitment to uphold the tenets of the rule of law, constitutionalism and democracy. The day is also to remind the citizens of their collective commitment to a regime of uninterrupted constitutional order.
The addition of Constitution Day relegated Republic Day (July 1st) from a public holiday to a commemorative day.
