The government has accepted a key recommendation of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) to extend the tenure of the President and Members of Parliament from four years to five years as part of proposed constitutional reforms.
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, announced the decision on Thursday while presenting the government’s White Paper on the Constitutional Review Committee’s recommendations.
He said the proposal is aimed at giving governments sufficient time to formulate, implement and evaluate policies before returning to the electorate.
“The government has accepted a recommendation to extend the term of office of the president from four years to five years, with the term of Parliament extended to correspond with this,” Dr Ayine said.
He explained that the existing four-year electoral cycle leaves administrations with limited time to execute their programmes because the beginning of each term is devoted largely to transition activities, while the final year is dominated by election-related processes.
“Our thinking is practical. Under the current four-year cycle, the early months of every administration are consumed by transition matters, and the final year is largely consumed by elections,” he said.
According to the Attorney General, a five-year mandate would provide a more realistic period for governments to develop, implement and assess public policies.
“A five-year term provides a more realistic time frame for the formulation, implementation and assessment of government policy,” he added.
Dr Ayine also announced that the government had accepted, in principle, the Constitutional Review Committee’s recommendation to reduce the minimum age required to contest for the presidency.
However, while the committee proposed lowering the eligibility age from the current 40 years to 30 years, the government has settled on a minimum age of 35 years.
“Still under the presidency, the committee recommended that the minimum age of eligibility for election as president be reduced from 40 years, currently in the Constitution, to 30 years. The government has accepted this recommendation in principle, subject to one modification,” he said.
“The minimum age will be 35 years, not 30 years. The details of this will be fashioned out through the Constitutional Review.”
The proposals form part of the government’s response to recommendations submitted by the Constitutional Review Committee and are expected to undergo the required constitutional and legislative processes before any amendments can take effect.
READ THE FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMITTEE
Source: www.kumasimail.com
