The Making of Ghana’s Fourth Republican Constitution, Power Alternation and Stability

How was the Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana made, and how and why did it generate power turnovers and stability? This chapter attempts to address these questions by critically examining the making of the constitution of the Fourth Republic that has endured for 30 years, characterised by periodic leadership alternation. The author dubs the successive political turnovers and stability a ‘political miracle’ in Africa, which is notorious for its perennial instability and coup d’etats. The methodology deployed in this study is essentially qualitative, and it involved the use of interviews, documented primary sources, articles and books. This chapter reveals that constitution-making in Ghana was largely participatory and was capped by a referendum. Political power turnover was made possible by Ghanaian subscription to the constitution, particularly the presidential term-limit clause. Conflict-resolution mechanisms were inbuilt in Ghanaian politics, the courts were given a chance to operate in full swing, and all litigants bowed to the verdict of the courts. The author recommends that Ghanaians should not ‘rest on their laurels’ but instead continuously review their electoral codes to make them more functional and generate better election outcomes.