By Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA
Takoradi, March 11, GNA – Civil Society Organisations and Citizen Platform on Constitutional Reforms have been built to ensure broad civic engagement on the reforms and a push for its effectiveness.
The Platform brings together more than 70 organizations from civil society, professional bodies, trade unions, academia, faith-based institutions, and policy groups.
It also has a 20-member Steering Committee providing strategic coordination and direction.
For the Western Region, Friends of the Nation (FoN), a renowned NGO serves as a member of the Steering Committee, and as the focal organization for the Western and Central Regions, facilitating mobilization and engagement at the regional level.
Mr. Donkris Mevuta, the Executive Director of the FoN at a Two-day workshop organised by the CDD, Star Ghana with funding from UK, International Development said at the launch of the Platform was significant because constitutional reform must not be confined to Accra.
The workshop sought to enhance participants’ understanding of the constitutional review process, equip CSOs with practical advocacy and engagement skills, and promote collaboration among civil society actors to ensure effective and coordinated action on constitutional reform.
Across the country, concerns about executive dominance, weak separation of powers, limited decentralization, and accountability gaps have renewed calls for reform.
He noted that the reforms must reflect voices from across the country representing, women, youth, persons with disabilities, traditional leaders, professionals, informal sector workers, and marginalized communities.
“If the Constitution governs all of us, then all of us must help shape it”, he added.
He described the initiative as non-partisan; “it is patriotic. It is grounded in the belief that a stronger Constitution strengthens governance, protects rights, promotes accountability, and secures long-term national stability”.
He said, Civil society has a duty to nurture this trust through transparency, education, and constructive dialogue, describing the occasion as commitment to collaborate with state institutions, Parliament, the judiciary, traditional authorities, and the media.
The Platform would ensure that no voice was left behind in shaping Ghana’s constitutional future and urged all stakeholders not be spectators in the historic process.
“Let us organize community conversations, submit proposals, engage our networks, and follow the reform journey closely. I call on civil society organizations, media practitioners, youth and women’s groups, faith leaders, professional associations, and all citizens in the Western and Central Regions to actively participate, contribute ideas, and remain engaged throughout this constitutional review process.”
Mr Mevuta said the Constitution belonged to Ghanaians and so the reforms must reflect “us,… its future depends on our participation”.
In 2025, the Citizens Platform on Constitutional Reform was launched to serve as a coordinated framework to ensure that the ongoing constitutional review process is participatory and citizen driven.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga /Kenneth Odeng Adade