CSOs appeal to Government for protected funding for civic education
Human Rights Reporters
3 min read
The Citizens Platform on Constitutional Review (CPCR), a coalition of more than 100 civil society organisations, labour unions, professional bodies and individual citizens, has appealed to the Government to provide adequate and legally protected funding for civic education ahead of any referendum on the proposed constitutional reforms.
The coalition said the funding should be released well ahead of the referendum to enable citizens across the country to adequately understand, discuss and make informed decisions on the proposed amendments.
Prof. Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Chairperson of the CPCR Steering Committee, made the call at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, to present the coalition’s position on the ongoing constitutional review process.
She said civic education was fundamental to ensuring that the constitutional reform process was legitimate, inclusive and genuinely reflective of the will and aspirations of Ghanaians.
“No Ghanaian should be asked to decide the future of the constitution without a fair chance to understand what is being asked,” she said.
Prof. Darkwah said the Government should announce and reinforce a clear funding commitment for civic education, with the resources protected in law and made available to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) sufficiently ahead of the referendum.
She noted that the proposed reforms could involve more than 50 constitutional provisions, including more than 20 entrenched provisions, requiring citizens to have adequate time and opportunity to understand the issues before voting.
According to her, the constitutional referendum would require broad public participation, making sustained civic education essential rather than treating it as a last-minute campaign activity.
She said the high constitutional thresholds required for the referendum could not be achieved through public education conducted only in the final weeks before the vote.
Prof. Darkwah said the CPCR therefore wanted civic education to begin early and reach citizens beyond Accra, particularly communities that had historically had limited opportunities to engage directly in national constitutional discussions.
She said the Constitution belonged to the Ghanaian people and that citizens must be informed, consulted and given a genuine opportunity to express their views and understand how their contributions shaped the final outcome.
The coalition also appealed to the Government to establish a legally binding Constitutional Reform Implementation and Roadmap Act to provide a clear sequence of actions, institutions, timelines and milestones for the reform process.
It said the roadmap should cover public consultation, civic education, legislative processes, parliamentary consideration and the referendum, while ensuring that the process could continue beyond the current political and parliamentary cycle.
The CPCR welcomed several proposals contained in the Government’s position paper and indicated areas where it agreed with the government, including strengthening the independence of institutions, improving electoral processes, expanding civic participation, and enhancing human rights protections.
However, it also identified areas requiring further consideration, including the proposed presidential and parliamentary term arrangements, presidential appointment powers, the role of Members of Parliament as Ministers, decentralisation, local government elections, parliamentary representation, and constitutional safeguards for democratic institutions.
The coalition said its position was guided by the principle that how Ghana undertook constitutional reform was as important as the content of the reforms themselves.
It therefore urged the Government, Parliament and other stakeholders to ensure that the process remained transparent, inclusive, participatory, and responsive to the concerns and aspirations of the Ghanaian people.
Prof. Darkwah said the coalition remained committed to working with all stakeholders to support a constitutional reform process that strengthened Ghana’s democracy and reflected the collective interests of its citizens.
The CPCR was convened by the Centre for Democratic Governance (CDG) Ghana, Democracy Hub and Star-Ghana Foundation and has grown into a broad coalition seeking to facilitate citizen participation in the constitutional review process.
About The Author
