The Constitution Review Committee has proposed sweeping reforms to Ghana’s governance structure, including barring Members of Parliament from serving as ministers and imposing strict limits on the size of government, in a move aimed at strengthening the separation of powers and reducing executive excess.

The proposals were outlined on Monday, December 22, during the presentation of the Committee’s report by its Chairman, Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, as part of the constitutional reform process.

According to the Committee, an amendment to Article 78(1) would prohibit any sitting Member of Parliament from being appointed as a Minister of State, Deputy Minister, or Regional Minister. The recommendation is intended to clearly separate the legislative and executive arms of government.

As a companion measure, the Committee further proposed that an MP who resigns from Parliament would also be ineligible for ministerial appointment, with the restriction applying only for the duration of the parliamentary term for which the individual was elected. This, the Committee said, is to prevent circumvention of the proposed ban.

The Committee also recommended amendments to Article 78(2) to significantly reduce the size of government. Under the proposal, the total number of Ministers of State, including Deputy Ministers and Regional Ministers, must not exceed three times the number of Cabinet Ministers.

With the Constitution already capping Cabinet Ministers at 19 under Article 76(1), the total number of ministers across all categories would therefore be limited to 57.

In addition, the Committee has proposed that the President should no longer appoint Deputy Regional Ministers, further streamlining executive appointments and cutting administrative overhead.

However, the proposals allow limited flexibility. Where a President seeks to appoint ministers beyond the stated ceiling, the Committee advised that written justification must be submitted to Parliament, and prior parliamentary approval obtained through a simple majority vote of all Members of Parliament.