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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 9

Publication Date: September 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/assrj.89.10913. Fobih, N. (2021). Constitutional and Legal Issues in Ghana’s Public Administration: Governance and Public Policy Challenges.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(9). 486-499.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Constitutional and Legal Issues in Ghana’s Public Administration:

Governance and Public Policy Challenges

Nick Fobih

Central University, Central Business School

Department of Management & Public Administration

Accra, Ghana

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine some of the major constitutional and legal

issues that are imperative in Ghana’s public administration. Despite Ghana’s

success in promoting democratic governance over the past decades since the 1992

transition, numerous constitutional and legal issues affect effective policy design

and implementation that require urgent governmental reforms. The study

discussed the constitutional and democratic theories as the basis of the work. The

methodology used is based on the qualitative approach with combined sources

from primary and secondary data. The findings in the study show that certain

aspects of Ghana’s constitutional provisions and legal framework do adversely

affect its policy design and implementation in diverse ways. The significance of the

study is that the outlined challenges and recommendations will inform the

government and key policy makers on the need to make effective policies in order

to enhance the country’s political and socio-economic development. The study’s

implication for theory is that it will inform its readers about the different

theoretical perspectives on the issues discussed. The study also provides key

insights into important issues in Ghana’s constitutional provisions, and the legal

and policy environment, which can serve as useful tools or instruments for policy

makers in the three organs of government and the bureaucracy. This study further

contributes towards academic discussions on the viability of the constitutions

drawn by authoritarian regimes prior to the third-wave democratic transitions in

Africa, and the difficulties some of these constitutional provisions pose to making

effective policies and governance, thus emphasizing the need for constitutional

reviews.

Key words: Ghana, Constitutional and Legal Issues, Public Administration, Governance,

Public Policy.

INTRODUCTION

Across the globe, constitutions and legal frameworks are the bedrocks or building blocks of

democratic states and guide the institutions for promoting democratic values in the country as

well as the systems with which the various governmental bodies operate, particularly in the

design and implementation of public policies and the effective delivery of public services.

Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of constitutions and legal frameworks in

democratic states, which is evidenced in the fact that prior to the introduction of democratic

rule, a constitution must first be designed and enacted. As a unitary state, Ghana’s governance

system is based on democratic principles and the presidential system of government where the

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Fobih, N. (2021). Constitutional and Legal Issues in Ghana’s Public Administration: Governance and Public Policy Challenges. Advances in Social

Sciences Research Journal, 8(9). 486-499.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.89.10913

bureaucracy operates under the oversight function of the executive branch of government.

While Ghana has made significant inroads since its 1992 democratic transition, its public policy

making and implementation environments have been saddled with weak institutional

frameworks, resulting in poor policy making by the executive and legislative arms of

government, and ineffective implementation of policies in terms of the delivery of public

services by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) or the bureaucracy, coupled with

weaknesses in the judiciary’s administration of justice. The question to be answered in the

study is, how do the basic constitutional provisions and the legal frameworks affect Ghana’s

public administration? This study argues that despite the significant progress made since the

enactment of the 1992 Constitution and the re-introduction of democracy in Ghana, there have

been constitutional and legal issues pertaining to weaknesses in some sections of the

constitutional provisions and the legal frameworks that have negatively impacted the

deepening of the country’s democracy and the promotion of accountable and responsible

governance by the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government. These trends have

also had many negative consequences on the delivery of public services by the bureaucracy.

In Shaffritz, Russell and Borick’s (2016) work, Introducing Public Administration, the authors

defined public administration as what the bureaucracy or civil service does in terms of the

implementation of the government’s public policy, and explained public administration in

terms of a set of institutional arrangements, administrative practices and systems, which

implement and monitor state policies to address the political and socio-economic needs of

citizens through the delivery of public services and regulations by the bureaucracy. Public

administration is therefore governmental administration, which operates in the particular

sphere of the machinery of government, especially policies by the executive branch, which are

implemented through the bureaucracy or civil service (Stillman, 2011). It deals with the

analysis, formulation and implementation of government policies to improve the political and

socio-economic conditions of citizens in a country. Dye (2016), defined public policy as

“anything a government chooses to do or not to do”. This implies that public policy is the sole

domain of government, particularly the actions and inactions of the executive branch of

government. While Dye’s definition is simple, a broader meaning can be attributed to it in terms

of all the actions and inactions of government, and a conscious choice of government in making

decisions and taking actions, which may yield intended or unintended consequences.

Governance is the way or process by which a government or the executive branch makes

decisions and take actions to benefit citizens in the country. In other words, it refers to the

structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, the rule of

law, equity, inclusiveness, participation, empowerment, broad-based participation in

government respect for civil liberties. It also represent how public affairs are managed based

on certain values, beliefs, norms and democratic principles. In recent times, international

organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the United

Nations have given a great deal of attention to the promotion of good governance by

governments across the globe. The good governance agenda stems from donor concern with

the effectiveness of public service delivery and development efforts in many developing

countries. Good governance is basically a way of assessing how public sector institutions and

officials conduct public affairs, manage resources more efficiently and effectively, take

responsibility for their actions or inactions, and are accountable to citizens. The UNDP, the