Constitutionalism, democracy go beyond human rights – Justice Mensa-Bonsu

Justice Professor Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu, a Justice of the Supreme Court, says constitutionalism and democratic governance go beyond claiming and enjoying human rights, to include “reciprocal duties” of civic and moral obligations.

Some of these duties, she said, included the profession of religiosity and faith which she said most Ghanaians failed to exhibit the practical tenets thereof.

“We condemn acts of corruption on others while we offer excuses about ours. We steal from employers yet complain when the same is done to us. We get angry when ill-treated by foreigners but largely remain silent when it involves a powerful citizen,” Prof Mensah-Bonsu noted.

She made the comment on day two of the 41st Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures in Accra, titled: “Yen Ara Asaase Ni Remix – Tuning up the Contribution of Law in the Ghana We Desire.”

Justice Prof. Mensah-Bonsu questioned why persons put in positions of authority in the public service feared calling recalcitrant subjects to order and also questioned why many Ghanaians were afraid to stand up for anything and also did not take responsibility for their own actions.

All these she said, affected the country at large, hence the need to fulfil them and not just claim the rights and freedoms the constitution and democratic system offered.

This, she noted, would go a long way to propel progress and stability in all spheres of endeavours.