Constitution of Ghana

Ghana's current constitution was approved by national referendum on 28 April 1992, with about ninety two percent of voters in favor, and it established what is known as Ghana's Fourth Republic. Spanning twenty six chapters, it created a presidential system in which the president, serving four-year terms as head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief, is supported by a vice president and a twenty five member Council of State, alongside a unicameral Parliament whose members are elected by universal adult suffrage for four-year terms and whose bills require presidential assent to become law. An independent judiciary headed by the Supreme Court exercises broad powers of judicial review beneath it. The constitution draws on both British and American constitutional models as well as on Ghana's own earlier constitutions of 1957, 1969 and 1979, and it places particular emphasis on decentralized government, human rights, press freedom and the institution of chieftaincy.