Constitutional hybridity and constitutionalism in Ghana

Ghana's 1992 Constitution is a hybrid arrangement that combines some features of both the US Presidential and British Westminster systems of Government. Having modelled three different constitutions along the lines of both systems since 1960, there emerged the preference for constitutional hybridity in 1992. This was based on the assumption that the best constitution is a mixed system that borrows from the features of the two main systems of government. Nevertheless, after over 20 years of operation, this study shows that Ghana's 1992 Constitution upsets the balance of power between the arms of government, particularly between the executive and legislature and in favour of the former in a manner that undermines constitutionalism. This paper discusses the specific arrangements and provisions of the hybrid constitution and how they facilitate the exercise of unbridled as well as unmitigated executive power. It makes a call for the abolition of the hybrid system and an adherence to either of the two main sys...