The Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica) joined its partners to launch a 43-page booklet that simplifies individual rights in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The booklet titled “A Guide to your Rights: Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in Ghana”, provides an insight into the rights of the people and how citizens can enforce them.
The Centre for Human Rights (the Centre) and Konrad Adenauer Foundation in partnership with Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica) and the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) on Thursday, September 7, 2023, launched the Ghanaian Constitutional Literacy Booklet which has further been translated into the “Akan” language, one of Ghana’s popular local languages.
The event welcomed participants from Civil Society as well as student groups from tertiary institutions and representatives from some interest groups.
Dr. Stephanie Rothenberger, Director of the Rule of Law Program for Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa, Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in her introduction of the project noted successes they had already chalked in Kenya, Zambia, and a few other Anglophone countries with similar interventions.
The representative from the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Mrs. Patience Adumua-Lartey in her keynote address reflected on Ghana’s constitutional journey since independence. She focused on the Importance of the 1992 Constitution in consolidating the protection and promotion of human rights in Ghana by citing relevant provisions that catered to the vulnerable in society.
Remarks from the brief panel discussion bothered on issues like; the need for constitutional reform, human rights violations in various forms due to the lack of knowledge of existing human rights laws, and the importance of youth inclusion in decision-making.
The idea behind this project is to ensure that citizens are informed about their constitution in order to protect their Human Rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights which is basically the soul of the Constitution.
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) is a German Political Foundation that is committed to achieving and maintaining peace, freedom, and Justice through political education on a national level as well as on an international level with more than 110 offices worldwide.
The KAS Rule of Law Programme for Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa based in Nairobi has been actively promoting the Rule of Law, Democracy, and Human Rights in the Region since 2006. Strengthening constitutionalism as well as the enforcement of basic human rights enshrined in the constitutions of Sub-Saharan Africa has always been a major focus of the programme’s work.
On the other hand, the Center for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, is an internationally recognized university-based institution combining academic excellence and effective activism to advance human rights, particularly in Africa. It aims to contribute to advancing human rights, through education, research, and advocacy.
By PNAfrica Comms
