President Akufo-Addo, has assured that he will continue to work for an extensive, national consensus to be reached on the ramifications of Article 55(3) of the Constitution, which currently bars political parties from involvement in district assembly and local government elections.

According to the President, a primary goal of the 1992 Constitution is to decentralise the structure of governance in Ghana, so that government would be brought closer to the people. However, one fundamental barrier to its realisation is the repeal of Article 55(3).

Article 55(3) states that, “Subject to the provisions of this Article, a political party is free to participate in shaping the political will of the people, to disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character, and sponsor candidates for elections to any public office other than to District Assemblies or lower local government units”.

Addressing the nation on Thursday, 28th April, 2022, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the holding of the Referendum, which approved the 1992 Constitution, the President stated that the attempt he made in 2019 to repeal Article 55(3), and allow for the participation of political parties in local government, was aborted because of the lack of a broad national consensus, when the opposition NDC signaled its inability to back the repeal.

“It was and continues to be my view that the repeal or modification of an entrenched clause of the Constitution should attract widespread support to make it acceptable and healthy for the body politic. We should further bear in mind the strong attachment of the Ghanaian people to multi-party democratic elections.