The 1992 Constitution and Public Financial Management: Challenges and Opportunities

3 3 Reforming the Constitution of Ghana for a New Era: Averting the Peril of a Constitution without Constitutionalism 2 constitutionalism” to describe the apparent paradox of a commitment on the part of Africa's postcolonial elites to “the idea of a constitution”, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, their “rejection of the classical notation of constitutionalism”. [...] 3 7 Reforming the Constitution of Ghana for a New Era: Averting the Peril of a Constitution without Constitutionalism example, although article 2 of the Constitution opens the doors of the Supreme Court to “any person” who alleges a violation of the Constitution to invoke the authority of the Court in order to enforce compliance with the commands of the Constitution, citizens have, by and large, f. [...] In looking to the President as practically the sole initiator and proponent of legislative reform, and denying the same opportunity to the entire body of Parliament, the current interpretation of article 108 assumes, in effect, a president in the nature of a philosopher- king; one who is the sole repository of wisdom within the state. [...] To appreciate the full breadth of the powers of the contemporary Ghanaian president one must look beyond the text of the 1992 Constitution to volumes of pre-Fourth Republic statutes and other enactments, some of them with a lineage going back to the colonial period, that were in force and became part of the “existing law” at the time of the transition to the Fourth Republic. [...] Additionally, the salaries and other benefits to which a judge is entitled may not be varied to the judge's disadvantage; the jurisdiction of the courts may not be diminished or "ousted" by the executive or legislature; and the preparation and management of the judiciary's annual budget falls within the purview of 44 A CDD-Ghana Publication Reforming the Constitution of Ghana for a New Era: Averti.