NPP demands Constituent Assembly before Ghana's constitution changes go to Parliament

Pinned summary · as of 16:45

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has told the NDC government not to push its proposed changes to the 1992 Constitution through Parliament or a referendum until a Constituent or Consultative Assembly has debated them. Party figures laid this out in Accra on 17 September 2026, saying they back some reforms but reject the route the government has chosen.

What we know

• The NPP wants ministers to table legislation in Parliament creating a Constituent or Consultative Assembly, so the proposals can be argued out before any draft amendments are tabled or sent to voters.
• In the NPP's picture, the assembly would seat parties, trade unions, professional associations, chiefs, civil society and other groups, rather than leaving the final text to the governing party.
• Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who chairs the NPP's policy committee and represents Ofoase-Ayirebi in Parliament, said the review committee's report touches 147 of the 299 articles and adds 59 new provisions, 206 proposals in all. He said the party rejects a government approach that amounts to “essentially rewriting the 1992 constitution”.
• A committee of eight led by Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh handed its final report to President John Dramani Mahama in December 2025. The government answered it with a Position Paper on 30 July 2026. Later, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong took the chair of a new implementation committee with eleven members.
• The implementation committee is working to a deadline of November 2026 for the first amendment bills, the NPP said.
• The Prempeh committee recommended lengthening the presidential term from four years to five, and the government accepted that in July. The NPP said it wants the four-year term kept, arguing that it lets voters judge and renew or withdraw a mandate regularly.
• The NPP does favour holding the presidential election in the first week of November, preferably on a Tuesday. It also wants the age threshold for presidential candidates cut from 40 to 30, rather than the 35 the government proposed.
• Mr Oppong Nkrumah said that of the 147 recommended amendments to existing articles, the government fully accepted 22 and partly accepted 25, and took its own line on the remainder.
• The NPP said it accepts that parts of the Constitution need amending and would support proposals that strengthen accountability and decentralisation, but says it would vote against the government's bills, and oppose them in any referendum, if no assembly or similar forum for negotiated agreement is created.
• The government has said its Position Paper reflects its own study of the review committee's proposals, with some recommendations taken on and others replaced by alternative positions.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The NPP counts 100 of the 147 recommendations, or 68%, as matters where the government and the review committee part ways, while the Trades Union Congress puts the rejected share at 54%. The NPP acknowledged that different counting methods produce different totals, and the government has not given its own tally in these reports.
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  The NPP alleged that ministers have ended consultation and ordered the implementation committee to write up the contested provisions instead of negotiating them. The Rainbow Radio Online report adds the allegation that the government means to use its parliamentary numbers for ordinary provisions and a referendum for entrenched ones. The government has not responded in these reports.
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  Rainbow Radio Online reported the NPP's claim that the full report was withheld for five months, and that Parliament meanwhile passed the Tribunals Bill against the committee's advice. It also reported that the party would urge a no vote in any referendum held without an assembly. Neither point appears in other reports.
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  The Custodian reported that the NPP pointed to concerns from the Trades Union Congress, the Ghana Bar Association and the Citizens' Platform on Constitutional Reform, the last of which is said to have asked for a Roadmap Act and a pause on bills already before Parliament. These positions are given only as relayed by the NPP.
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  Kumasi Mail reported that the NPP takes positions on several further proposals, among them support for a cap of 60 ministers and deputy ministers, separating ministers from the House, electing DCEs with party sponsorship, and rejecting a separate pay commission for top office holders and changes to the Chief Justice's tenure. Other reports have not confirmed these details.
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  The Vaultz News reported that Sulemana Tampuli Alhassan said the NPP had reviewed 92 recommendations and would publish its positions. No other report mentions this.

Why it matters for Ghana

The proposals would change how long a president serves, when elections are held, how District Chief Executives are chosen and how much say Parliament has over ministers, all of which shape daily governance from Accra to district assemblies. The NPP points out that changing entrenched provisions by referendum needs a 40% turnout of registered voters and 75% approval among votes cast, so cross-party support matters for any vote. With first bills expected in November 2026, the row will set the tone for how much debate Ghanaians get before any change takes effect.