Prof. E. Kofi Abotsi
@ProfAbotsi
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Law Professor & Dean @UPSALawSchool | Legal Practitioner | Managing Partner - Axis Legal Ghana |
Accra, Ghana
Joined July 2021
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Last Seen Profiles
The EC’s position on the request for an audit of the register is baffling & even troubling! For even if they deny the merit of the claims, audits by their nature confirm or refute allegations, and for a constitutional body whose mandate is rooted in perceptions of fairness and
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The right to demonstrate is a constitutional right & the police must meet a higher threshold in court to prevent one. Seems to me however that the courts demand no threshold of proof. As presently applied by the court, it seems that a simple statement of inconvenience or
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A permit from the police is NOT required to demonstrate. A person wishing to demonstrate must merely NOTIFY the police. Where thy object to it they must secure an injunction to stop it and a failure to NOTIFY is also not a crime
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FIFA’s protection of FAs tend to breed corruption in Africa! It is utter nonsense to privatize Football Associations while recognizing teams raised as representative of nations. FAs have become the safest places for corruption without accountability guaranteed by FIFA
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For nearly 30 decades, we have mocked technical education and consigned it to second class preference. We have emphasized rote learning and theory. Ghana had continued to import middle level technical handymen as youth unemployment grows.
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The police are not duty-bound to inform or seek the permission of the speaker before effecting an arrest of an MP.The authority of the police to arrest extends to everyone except the President. An MP can only evade an arrest if he is on his way from or to Parliament .
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IGP Dampare may be new in his seat but he has shifted something in the gears of policing dormant for decades. When the police merely acts because it is activated by third persons, it ceases to champion the rule of law. Under Dampare impunity is in danger
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There are two categories of institutions in the constitution; institutions whose bases rest in power, ( executive, parliament, armed forces), & institutions whose bases rest in credibility, ( judiciary, EC, auditor general). For the EC, perception should matter more than
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Ghana’s courts have sided with the police on matters affecting the right to demonstrate. The courts have taken allegations of manpower shortfalls & security concerns on a face value without much factual basis evaluation. In essence “notice” has become “ permit”
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When politics such as ours is devoid of ideology and principle, lineage and patronage dominates. For actors, insults and a lack of public decorum becomes the very essence of political talent. In the meantime the democratic dividend continues to elude the many who adopted it
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Identity-based voting is the reason for political non-performance. Where parties know that their support is grounded in ethnicity, strongholds and unflinching voter loyalty, they have zero incentive to perform. Voters cannot support poor performance while complaining about it
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The Supreme Ct. decision in the 2020 election that the EC commissioner can elec not to testify promotes the wrong constitutional plcy. As the chief returning officer paid from public funds, testifying in lawful petitions forms part of her work the pfmance of which is mandatory
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Who does your MP represent? You? The Party? Or himself? Experience has shown that Ghana’s MPs see themselves as enforcers of party’s dirty biz, while representing themselves in the end. Think about that at the polls as you select party loyalists.
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Ghana is teetering on the brink of “trust bankruptcy”. From election to election, promises fail without apology, & the fruits of power are privatized to the benefit of loyalists —questioning the essence elections & the conferment of power! A window may be closing & quickly I fear
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Partisan voting produces partisan leaders! Electorates cannot continue business as usual, heedlessly supporting parties while complaining of bad governance in-between elections. Electoral input=governance output
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Sad truth of ‘92 Const. is that Parliament only exists in theory. In practice, MPs rep themselves, the executive, their parties & vested interests. In December, electorates must demand an executive willing to free & grow Parliament & representative democracy!
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From crippling public debt to painful budgets, Parliament is the missing link in the defense of citizen interests! Until electors pay equal attention to the election of MPs, & MPs see themselves as obligated to the state and not the party, good governance will continue to elude
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What is the cost of mandatory English language pass into universities? Technically gifted students and math prodigies have fallen by the wayside and talents lost. Our educational system needs serious introspection and direction
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Whenever candidates are compelled to pay high filing fees, the EC worsens the financial plight of parties & exposes them to manipulation of financiers—the next generation of corrupt actors. Filing fees has no basis in the constitution for an institution that publicly funded!
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When elected leaders indulge in bad governance & misrule, they become destabilizing influences on the state. More dangerously, they expose the country to the brutalities of the masses and adventurers who lie in wait! Ghana should seize the moment in Dec. against closing window
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When politicians see offices as trophies not responsibility, their desire for service is limited. The dominance of patronage in our politics undermines the service of our leaders & our own capacity to hold them to account!
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The huge powers vested in the president shows that the framers of our constitution contemplated a philosopher king-wise, knowledgeable, altruistic, competent. For a fractious, acrimonious and self-seeking people we have been, this has proven to be a tragic miscalculation
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Parliament’s rejection of the loan arrangement shows that a sleepy Parliament is inimical to the public debt profile of Ghana. Yesterday Parliament policed!
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The constitution provides that the state shall provide an “ adequate means of livelihood …to the needy”. So, beyond the conventional spat over who is better on the microeconomic indices, electors should change the gauging indicators & assess the candidates on whose policies are
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The tragedy of African democracy is that it stops after elections. While the ballot ends, the process of elections continue and the new cycle of campaigning starts the day after. Divisions & political recriminations endure. Dev’t. never starts
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Great experience for criminal law class of the UPSA Law School at the Supreme Court today
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How do we explain the abject failure of the police to enforce the laws against the pollution of water bodies? How do we rationalize the financing of our political actors by crooks behind the pollution of our water bodies and the creeping poisoning of us all? Has Ghana crossed
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With the raging heatwave across West Africa & Ghana brought on by climate change, is it time to rethink costly concrete buildings in a region not prone to typhoons or tonadoes but day and night time heat?
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It is humbling but deeply encouraging to note that for the second time the Supreme Court cited my book on constitutional law. The latter referencing was in the case of Kwame Baffoe v AG in relation to the need for interpretive clarity in the boundaries of law & decision making.
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Excellent meeting & hanging out with Mayor Sylvester Turner( Mayor of Houston, Tx)
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Our constitution is flawed. It is based on assumptions that have ultimately been thwarted. Assumptions of limited gov’t. in the face of strong actors, of a state that cares in the face of one that doesn’t exist, of prudent Mgt. in the face of corruption. Reforms are imperative
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The menace of galamsey tests the law enforcement powers of state against the corroding influence of politics. With the ‘ criminals’ apparently being financiers of parties, an unwinnable case of conflict may seem to have been created and the very legitimacy and future of Ghana’s
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When the award of contracts, appointments to public offices, & distribution of social benefits are predicated on the question, “ is he one of us?”, the neutral voter is truly the loser in all elections; Ignored & sidelined in between elections & only remembered for his vote!
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The 2 parties are sparring on who is worse at the public debt problem.But the key question is who is best at doing much with little. Headless & costly borrowing to finance dev’t. violates the constitution which says that the national economy is to be managed in a prudent manner.
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Do election petitions against declared presidential results serve any effectual purpose? Do courts truly consider the possibility overturning whole national aggregate results or has the process been merely gone through as a perfunctory exercise to legitimize results?
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We need to build consensus around education. An educational model whose structure and orientation is dependent on changes in government is doomed to fail. Policy discontinuities in our politics can only serve to undermine education if this left to the 4 yearly political contest
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In the enterprise of statecraft, we the ‘choosers’ and the leaders chosen have repeatedly disappointed Ghana. Until electors go beyond identity politics, and the elected become patriots, democracy will be nothing more than a 4 -yearly change of batons for sharing the spoils
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The failure of the two leading parties to speak with one voice against the poisoning of Ghana’s rivers by illegal miners, represents a spectacular missed chance to show that they care about country above sectional interest! Is this a another illustration of “special interest
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The OSP is the boldest attempt yet at fighting corruption & Kissi Agyabeng fits the bill to move that office forward. Fighting corruption can never be the obligation of government alone but the vanguard responsibility of the givers who often are citizens.
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Coups like the one in Gabon present a false choice to the people; A choice between bad or even imposed governance, and military adventurers who have throughout Africa’s history failed to rule in the people’s interest.
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Simple rules on transparency require that FIFA publishes & republishes the full circumstances under which a referee is compelled to consult the VAR! Unregulated discretion kills competition everywhere
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An educational model that emphasizes retention against creativity is doomed to produce labor only fit for bygone markets.
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Whose interest does an intervention in Niger serve? And has ECOWAS reflected on the strategic calculus of intervening?
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Ghana’s constitution mandates the employers to pay “ realistic wages”to workers. Realistic wage is “living” not “ minimum” wage.
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Good luck to all UPSA Law School’s students in today’s entrance exams! Excellence awaits!
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Today the UPSA Law School launched the first institutionalized legal clinic in Ghana ushering in an epoch of practical & student-led legal education in the country
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To build sustainable jobs, we need to promote sustainable skills training. For a world moving in the direction of creativity & AI, our model of education is flawed as we continue to prioritize retention and prize rote learning and it’s associated professions.
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Hosted a team from U Penn today discussing possibility for collaborative relationship
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Constitutional duty requires that the Ghanaian loves & serves his country! But does Ghana love the Ghanaian?With rampant failure of governance, social services, minimal safety nets, politicization of identity and benefits, how do we secure the love for nation which is in danger
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The fight against corruption cannot be won without building the spirit of service and national attachment in Ghanaians. Reviving civic education in junior level education is not only useful but critical to the success of the fight.
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The EC’s accommodation of the parties’ concerns on the accuracy of the register needs to be commended. Excessive transparency is always a good thing in electoral management. From opaque ballot boxes to biometric registers, ours is rightly a never ending evolution.
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At the conference on access to justice in Nairobi, I shared a panel with the highly respected emeritus Chief Justice Willy Mutunga exploring open-door justice in Africa through ethics
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As the campaigns heat up, the two leading candidates continue to defend their records! But are there failures to be acknowledged? It’s called “learning”—-Lessons learned. For candidates who can better demonstrate humility & policy repentance should in my view be better
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Parliament is structured to be a marketplace of ideas. When brawl settles differences in position among MPs, it reinforces the frustrations of many-a body that continues to push itself into irrelevance. Yet parliamentary weakness is executive strength and the losers are Ghanaians
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Good luck to the UPSA team in the law challenge finals today! Only the best is good enough for you!
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The cycle & psyche of “winner takes all” increases the cost of electoral loss! It is the reason elections present deathly choices for candidates & followers. That threatens us all, and is the reason for a serious rethink of governance, nation building & elections.
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At the launch of the AfCFTA moot court competition happening at the closing of the AfCFTA conference on women in trade in Dar es Salam! The UPSA Law School is a partner in this project
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Party primaries are central to Ghana’s governance deficit . Corruption in governance is a function of corruption at the polls. Misrule when elected into office is traceable to the quality of candidates. Yet we are strangely less interested, treating it as insider party affair
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Air travel is senselessly expensive and difficult in Africa. And apparently protectionism, taxes & fuel cost is driving that. The AfCFTA would be mirage without a free airspace and landing across the continent.
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Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, first electoral commissioner of Ghana’s fourth republic delivering the 4th Constitution day lecture at the UPSA Law School
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Constitutional rights allow acts that offend the beliefs of some but it is the painful trade-off for living in neoliberal regimes. We cannot both desire absolute norms & human liberties at the same time. One does not have to subscribe to a belief/ practice in order to tolerate it
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A rent-seeking parliament is a danger to the 4th Republic. A parliament which represents itself only, makes nonsense of our queue on Dec. 7th! Aspiring MP’s need to rethink their motivations for public service. I wish I could believe & hope
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Great conversation today with the Australian High Commissioner on Indo-Pacific geopolitics & Australia’s role in the world
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Our constitution has flaws. Parliament’s role is not to capitalize on these but to perfect them. Anytime Parliament stands in opposition to the people in acts that benefits themselves only as MPs, Parliament should know it would have become predatory on the people it represents
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UPSA Law School Lifetime Achievement Award underway at the Labadi Beach Hotel
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No Remembrance Day, no significant monuments, just conveniently quieted in the pages of history.
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As the GBA elects new leadership, it needs to confront its own role in Ghana’s governance; To be active or docile? This has been its dilemma within the last 20 years. Yet the fact that it has confronted this question itself is puzzling given that it is the only private
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Fighting corruption is difficult because of its ubiquity. To win the war against corruption we must reduce participants into the minority & deride unexplained wealth. Wealth gained in public service must necessarily be questioned as service must mean what it says it is.
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When money dominates political influence, the echelons of the state gets hijacked by those who invest and have a view to maximizing the returns on investment. Corruption becomes an inevitable by-product of that warped system
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Excellent conversation yesterday with HE Virginia Palmer, US ambassador to Ghana on Global Crises, African Conundrums & US foreign policy!
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When democracy is foisted on ignorance, populism reigns. The foundations of our democracy are fundamentally weak and actors have exploited the negative gains. The only exit path is a commitment by actors to pluck the holes and stay committed to visions and limits.
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Ch 6 of the constitution compels us to have a nat’l devt. blueprint. Yet we don’t and govts haven’t cared. The politics of division goes to the very foundation of the 4th Republic and undoes the core essence of the constitution. The absence of a blueprint denies ch 6 it’s import
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