Lawyer, activist and academic, Oliver Barker-Vormawor says his appointment to the Constitution Review Implementation Committee will not weaken his long-standing advocacy for a new constitutional framework for Ghana.
Lawyer, activist and academic, Oliver Barker-Vormawor says his appointment to the Constitution Review Implementation Committee will not weaken his long-standing advocacy for a new constitutional framework for Ghana.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, August 28, Mr Barker-Vormawor said he had been asked by the Attorney-General to serve as Secretary and Member of the committee, where he will provide technical support towards implementing proposals to amend the 1992 Constitution.
He said his commitment to constitutional reform dates back 17 years when, at age 22, he was brought onto the Constitution Review Commission as one of its youngest research leads.
“Since then I have remained convinced of the centrality of constitutional reform to fulfilling Ghana’s mission,” he said.
Mr Barker-Vormawor said that conviction has continued to shape his advocacy, including through his work with Democracy Hub, which he said remains committed to the vision of moving Ghana towards a “New Constitution for a New Generation.”
He acknowledged that the ambition remains difficult to achieve because the political consensus required for such fundamental reform is currently absent.
“That dream remains deferred as the political consensus necessary to achieve it remains absent. But that still remains my lifelong mission,” he said.
He stressed that his participation in the current constitutional review process should not be seen as abandoning the broader campaign for reform.
“This process is only half the journey,” he said, adding that “progressive and incremental change doesn’t by itself defeat the commitment.”
According to Mr Barker-Vormawor, his advocacy will continue beyond his current role and will not be limited by what the political class is prepared to concede at the present stage.
He said his colleagues at Democracy Hub also regard the current process as only the beginning of their long-standing campaign.
“My colleagues at Democracy Hub consider this as just the beginning of their long-standing campaign and not the end. I subscribe to that creed; and our advocacy continues,” he said.
Mr Barker-Vormawor also expressed gratitude to the government for what he described as its commitment to ensuring that the constitutional review process is led by technocrats.
He cited the previous committees led by Professor Fiadjoe and Raymond Atuguba, Professor H. Kwesi Prempeh and Dr Rainer Akumperigya, and the current committee chaired by former Attorney-General Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew.
“Persons of repute have committed themselves to this journey for a while now. All in the hope that this process works,” he said.
