Outgoing Swiss Ambassador Calls on Constitutional Review to Deconcentrate Ghana's Too Powerful Presidency | Discuss Ghana

In a parting diplomatic masterclass on good governance, the outgoing Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Togo, and Benin, H.E. Simone Giger, has stated that Ghana's 1992 Constitution concentrates far too much power in the executive branch, urging the state to use its ongoing constitutional review to establish robust checks and balances.

The diplomat dropped the analytical assessment during a live interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday morning, July 9, 2026. Having wrapped up a successful four-year duty tour in Accra, Ambassador Giger—who will next serve as Switzerland’s top envoy to Uzbekistan—met with President John Dramani Mahama earlier this week to bid farewell. While praising Ghana’s history of peaceful transitions of power, she did not hold back on the structural gaps impeding the nation's decentralized growth, arguing that a transitional document designed to usher Ghana out of military rule in 1992 must now match the country's modern democratic maturity.

The Anatomy of the Power Concentration Critique

Ambassador Giger maintained that while the 1992 Constitution has served as a resilient anchor for the Fourth Republic, its current highly centralized design chokes local development:

A Transitional Framework Overdue for Reform: "It was a brilliant constitution for the time of the day. But it was also a transitional constitution," Giger observed. She pointed out that to ensure stability after eras of coups, the document vested extensive, near-absolute appointment and budgetary controls in the seat of government. "You have so many powers vested in the president. It's very centralized. Everything is in Accra."

The Swiss Counter-Model: Drawing an insightful comparison to Switzerland's famous direct-democracy matrix, the ambassador explained how dispersing power across institutions creates unbreakable transparency loops. "I think what the Swiss got right, better than anyone else probably, is that no one really holds power in Switzerland because everybody has a little bit of power. So we all keep each other in check."

A 100% Endorsement for Devolution: When asked if she fully supports civil society demands to drastically strip the presidency of its sweeping municipal and institutional appointment powers, Giger replied without hesitation: "A hundred per cent. A hundred per cent. I’m 100 per cent sure that if you get this right now, then Ghana will be a different country."