The Place of the Indemnity Clauses in Ghana’s Constitution, 1992. An Unexplored Perspective

Abstract (250 Word Limit)

Ghana has held eight democratic presidential and parliamentary elections since its return to Democratic Rule in 1992. The processes which led to the making of the constitution which was led by the now-defunct Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), a military Government, has been criticized by some scholars for not being the result of a consultative process. A significant and continuing critique is the presence of the Indemnity Clauses in the transitional provisions. The view that the constitution-making process was not broad-based remains uncontested for decades. In the same vein the Indemnity Clauses which are meant to protect actors in unconstitutional overthrows were touted to have been “smuggled” into the Constitution by the PNDC. This paper seeks to unravel the facts, the law, and reports and to conclude that, the views of lack of broad-based consultation,  and the alleged “smuggling” of the Indemnity Clauses, are not borne out by the documented process which began with the work of the National Commission on Democracy (NCD), and followed in this order by the Constitutional proposals by the Nana Dr. S.K.B Asante led Committee of Experts, the Consultative Assembly’s work and the Referendum which led to the Promulgation of the 1992 Constitution.