How the Law Reflects the State Choices of Democratic Governance in West Africa

1*Joseph Kwaku Asamoah, PhD, LLM, MBA, LLB, BSc, BL, CA, CE, PGDip Law, is a Lecturer at the Department of Commercial Law, Faculty of Law, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. 2Julius O Ihonvbere, Reinventing Africa for the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century (Malthouse Press 2011). 3 A Oquaye, Democracy and Constitutionalism in Ghana, 1992–2016 (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 2017).4 E Gyimah-Boadi, ‘Africa: The Quality of Political Reform’ (2004) 15(2) Journal of Democracy 104. 5 N Thompson and J Adetula (eds), Democracy and Good Governance in West Africa: Challenges and Prospects (Centre for Democracy and Development 2020). 6 Anthony de Jasay, The State (Basil Blackwell 1985). 7Ibid. 8Ibid. 9 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651). 10 Murray Forsyth, ‘Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan’ in Murray Forsyth and Maurice Keens-Soper (eds), The Political Classics: A Guide to Essential Texts from Plato to Rousseau (Oxford University Press 1992). 11 John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (Hollis edn, 1689). 12 Ibid. 13 Mohamed Halfani, Towards an Understanding of Governance: The Emergence of an Idea and Its Implications for Urban Research in Developing Countries (Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto 1994). 14 Bo Rothstein and Jan Teorell, What Is Quality of Government? A Theory of Impartial Political Institutions (QoG Working Paper Series 2005:6, The Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg 2005). 15 John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (Cambridge University Press 1988). 16 Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge University Press 1989). 17 BO Nwabueze, Constitutionalism in the Emergent States (Hurst 1973). 18 J Oloka-Onyango, ‘Constitutional Transitions in Africa: Lessons from Ghana and Uganda’ (1995) 8 Constitutional Forum 1. 19 Republic of Ghana, Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992. 20 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. 21 Said Adejumobi, Constitutionalism, Governance and the Democratic Process in Africa (UNDP 2000). 22 Tom Bingham, The Rule of Law (Penguin 2010). 23 Ibid. 24 Ronald Dworkin, Law’s Empire (Harvard University Press 1986). 25John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Revised edn, Harvard University Press 1999). 26 George H Sabine, A History of Political Theory (Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1961). 27 AV Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (Macmillan 1979). 28 The Constitution of Republic of Ghana, art 17. 29 International IDEA, Democracy at the Local Level: The International IDEA Handbook on Participation, Representation, Conflict Management and Governance (International IDEA 2001). 30 E Gyimah-Boadi, ‘Weak Institutions and Democratic Decay in Africa’ (2009) 20(4) Journal of Democracy 122. 31 Richard Joseph, ‘Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria’ (1987) Cambridge University Press. 32 Jean-François Bayart, The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly (Polity 2009).33 ECOWAS, Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001). 34 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (n 4) 87. 35 John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (n 6) 97. 36 Frédéric Bastiat, The Law (Foundation for Economic Education 1998) 235. 37 Ibid 38 John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (n 6). 39 Ibid. 40 The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992, arts 58(1), 93(2), 125(3). 41 Tuffuor v Attorney-General [1980] GLR 637 (SC). 42 The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992, arts 78 and 79. 43 Republic v High Court (Commercial Division), Accra; Ex parte Attorney-General (NML Capital Ltd. Case) [2013– 2014] 1 SCGLR 21. 44 H Kwasi Prempeh, ‘Presidential Power in Comparative Perspective: The Puzzling Persistence of Imperial Presidency in Post-Authoritarian Africa’ (2008) 35(2) Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 761 45 Kwame Boafo-Arthur, ‘The 1992 Constitution and the Separation of Powers: Challenges and Prospects’ (2007) Ghana Social Science Journal 24. 46 Jürgen Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (MIT Press 1996). 47 Ibid. 48 Kwasi Wiredu, Cultural Universals and Particulars: An African Perspective (Indiana University Press 1996). 49 Kwame Gyekye, Tradition and Modernity: Philosophical Reflections on the African Experience (Oxford University Press 1997). 50 UNDP, Governance for Sustainable Human Development (Policy Paper, 1997). 51 World Bank, Governance and Development (World Bank 1992). 52 Landell-Mills and Ismail Serageldin, ‘Governance and External Factors’ (World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics, Washington DC, 1991). 53 World Bank, Governance and Development (World Bank 1992). 54 Ibid. 55 Mohamed Halfani, Towards an Understanding of Governance: The Emergence of an Idea and Its Implications for Urban Research in Developing Countries (Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto 1994). 56 Ibid. 57Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), DAC Orientations on Participatory Development and Good Governance (OECD 1994). 58 Bo Rothstein and Jan Teorell, What is Quality of Government? A Theory of Impartial Political Institutions (Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2005). 59 Judith Healy and Mark Robinson, Democracy, Governance and Economic Development: Sub-Saharan Africa in Comparative Perspective (ODI 1992). 60Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino (eds), Assessing the Quality of Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005). 61 Schedler A, Diamond L and Plattner MF (eds), The Self-Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies (Lynne Rienner Publishers 1999). 62 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2023. 63 African Union, African Peer Review Mechanism Country Reports (APRM 2022). 64 Nurul Momen and Marzina Begum, ‘Good Governance in Bangladesh: Present Situation and Future Challenges’ (2005) LVII(1–2) Bangladesh Journal of Administration 159. 65 World Bank, Adjustment in Africa: Reform, Results and the Road Ahead (World Bank 1994). 66 Ibid. 67 Africa Recovery’ (July 1997) 22–24. 68 Ibid. 69 Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom (Oxford University Press 1999). 70 Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (Johns Hopkins University Press 1999). 71 Cheryl Saunders, Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law (CUP 2016). 72 Julius Nyerere, Freedom and Socialism (Oxford University Press, 1968). 73 Said Adejumobi, Constitutionalism, Governance and the Democratic Process in Africa (UNDP 2000). 74 The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992 (Preamble). 75 The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992, arts 57–125. 76 The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, s 14(2)(a). 77 ibid ss 153–174. 78 Ayo Olukotun, ‘The Missing Link in Nigeria’s Democratic Consolidation: The Role of Institutions’ (2006) 17(3) Journal of Democracy 70. 79 The Constitution of the Republic of Senegal 2001. 80 ibid arts 3–8. 81 New Patriotic Party v Attorney-General (CIBA Case) [1996-97] SCGLR 729 82 Attorney-General of Ondo State v Attorney-General of the Federation (2002) 9 NWLR (Pt 772) 222 (SC). 83 Hakeem O Yusuf, ‘Democratic Transition, Judicial Accountability and Judicialisation of Politics in Africa: The Nigerian Experience’ (2008) 50 International Journal of Law and Management 236. 84 Benjamin Rieth Schneider, Politics During and After Democratic Backsliding (PhD thesis, Washington University in St. Louis 2022) https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2753 85 The Constitution of Republic of Ghana, arts 218–187. 86 Occupy Ghana v Attorney-General [2017] GHASC 14. 87 F Babalola, ‘Anti-Corruption Agencies and Democratic Accountability in Nigeria’ (2015) 3(1) Journal of African Law and Governance 41. 88 République du Sénégal, Décret No. 2014-803 portant création de l’OFNAC (2014). 89Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (adopted 2001). 90 SERAP v Nig