Supreme Court Saved Ghana Costly Referendum- Prempeh

Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh, has described the Supreme Court’s decision declaring the delegate system used by political parties unconstitutional as a landmark ruling that not only advances Ghana’s democratic development but also saves the country the significant financial burden of conducting a national referendum. Speaking during an interview on Woezor TV on Sunday, August 2, Prof. Prempeh said the court’s intervention effectively resolved a constitutional issue that would otherwise have required an expensive referendum to amend entrenched constitutional provisions.

“At least I am happy that the court has pre-empted it because it saved us some money. To change this, these are entrenched provisions. You have to go to a referendum. The court, by pre-empting this and making that decision, has saved us some money — quite a bit of money actually,” he stated. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the delegate system, widely used by political parties to elect their presidential and parliamentary candidates, is inconsistent with the Constitution and directed political parties to replace it with an electoral arrangement that allows every member in good standing to participate directly in selecting candidates. Prof. Prempeh said the ruling aligns with a long-standing position championed by CDD-Ghana, which has consistently argued that the delegate system weakens internal party democracy by concentrating electoral power in the hands of a relatively small group of delegates.

According to him, the organisation had advocated replacing the delegate-based model with a one-member, one-vote system well before the legal challenge reached the Supreme Court. “We didn’t do this knowing that there would be a lawsuit. At the time we were doing this, there was no lawsuit,” he explained. He stressed that CDD-Ghana’s recommendation was based on years of studying Ghana’s political landscape and assessing how internal party elections have evolved. While acknowledging that delegate systems operate in some democratic jurisdictions, he maintained that Ghana’s experience has revealed serious shortcomings, particularly the growing influence of money and patronage in party primaries.

Prof. Prempeh argued that broadening participation to allow every registered party member to vote in internal elections would strengthen accountability, improve grassroots representation and reduce opportunities for vote-buying and undue influence. “We took the position that, to advance our democracy, we needed to move beyond the delegate system to a one-person, one-vote within the parties,” he said.

Political analysts believe the Supreme Court’s decision could reshape the country’s political landscape by compelling parties to redesign their internal electoral structures ahead of future presidential and parliamentary primaries. The ruling is also expected to stimulate wider debate on reforms aimed at deepening internal party democracy, increasing transparency in candidate selection processes and restoring public confidence in Ghana’s democratic institutions.

Source: Joy News
Author: Joyce Owusu