The debate on this subject was reignited after some key personalities including former President John Dramani Mahama and former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani, suggested that the country may be missing out on some competent persons by limiting the pool of potential leaders.

[contextly_sidebar id=”oRCISGaVqfocAHv0YJyz7JK7HJ8oXxeM”]Mr. Mahama, who was speaking at the Commonwealth Africa Summit in London on Wednesday, said young people were capable of acting as legislators in Parliament but were restricted from contesting for the Presidency.

“In my country, young people are in Parliament and contesting other positions, but not the presidency. Our constitution says you must be 40 to contest to be president. Some advocacy has started for age restriction to be removed or reduced and I support it,” the President had stated in a tweet.

Mr. Kwesi Prempeh however believes that, generally, there are more pressing areas where age restrictions are a problem, and such must be tackled first.

In his view, the restriction on the age for presidential aspirants is not a pressing need, and that the government must focus on creating jobs for the youth and not giving them more opportunities to contest for political office.

“There are a lot of age-related discrimination and exclusion in our systems that should be handled first. I do not rank not allowing 18 year olds , 20 year-olds to run for President as one of them. I don’t see what existing problem there is that this proposal seeks to solve”.

The lawyer further argued that the real challenge former President and Mr. Mpiani sought to highlight with their proposal was the high rate of youth unemployment which had not been tackled by successive governments.

He indicated that it will be arbitrary to scrap age limits to pave way for younger ones,while the major challenge of youth unemployment remains.

“I think it is really about finding jobs for the youth, create youth employment. It is not about making politics attractive to the youth. That is not where we should be headed. We should be really looking for jobs in the economy. Building on an economy that creates jobs for the youth where they can get to experience life and then after some season we should be looking for jobs in the economy and then after a certain season enter politics . One cannot judge one’s qualification to be President at 18. It is arbitrary.”

Ghana’s president’s under the 4th Republic

Under the Fourth Republic, the average age of the presidents when they began their terms has been 59.

Jerry John Rawlings was 45 when he was elected President in 1992.

His successor, John Kufuor, was 61 when he became President in 2001 after the first civilian change of power.

He was followed by John Atta Mills, who was 64, John Mahama who was 54, and the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was 72 years of age, the oldest of the lot.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He was appointed by CDD-Ghana’s Board of Directors.

Prof. Prempeh’s appointment, which takes effect from February 1, 2018, follows the retirement of the Centre’s founding Executive Director, Professor E. Gyimah-Boadi.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OOLKPzmKYAR1NKovYRf2gzZIq8JoqV2W”]A legal scholar and governance expert, Professor Prempeh brings to his new role a wealth of experience and knowledge gained from a rich and diverse career as a civil society activist, an academic, a lawyer, a corporate manager, a consultant and a policy adviser.

About Prof. Prempeh

He has been a member of the CDD-Ghana board since the Centre was founded, and served as its first director of legal policy and governance, and co-editor of its quarterly Democracy Watch from 2001 to 2003.

Professor Prempeh was a member of the faculty of Seton Hall University School of Law (New Jersey, USA) from 2003 to 2015, securing a tenure as a full professor in 2008.

He was also a visiting professor at GIMPA Law School from 2010 to 2011, and has co-taught the “Constitution-Building in Africa” course at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, since 2014.

Between 2013 and 2014, he served as constitutional adviser to the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, assisting the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference and the Constitution Drafting Commission to design and draft a new post-conflict constitution for the country.

A 2011 Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, Washington, D.C., Kwasi Prempeh is a renowned expert, consultant, and a commentator on democratization, governance, and constitutionalism in Ghana and Africa and has published widely in the field, including articles in the influential Journal of Democracy and International Journal of Constitutional Law.

Professor Prempeh previously practiced law in Washington, D.C.; first, as an associate with O’Melveny & Myers LLP (1993-1998) and later with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton (1998-2001), both leading U.S.-based international law firms.

Prior to pursuing graduate studies in the United States, he was a regional marketing manager with Pioneer Tobacco Ghana Limited, the Ghana subsidiary of BAT International.

A 1993 graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as Notes editor on the Yale Law Journal and an assistant-in-instruction, Professor Prempeh also holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Baylor University (Texas, USA) and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Ghana.  He is currently a member of the Ghana Law Reform Commission.

The leadership change at CDD-Ghana coincides with the 20th anniversary this year of the founding of the research and policy think-tank.

Professor Gyimah-Boadi, who leaves an impressive legacy, notably, a 50-person organization with offices in Accra and Tamale, and a strong global reputation for rigorous research and evidence-based analyses and advocacy in support of democracy and good governance, will remain affiliated to CDD-Ghana both as a non-executive member of its board, and in his capacity as Executive Director of Afrobarometer.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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“I find it curious that the youth who have a bigger stake in the future of this country by virtue of their age and stage in life are the ones who are most vociferously defending this line of thinking. It is your own graves you’re digging with this sort of facile ideology,” he said in a Facebook post.

[contextly_sidebar id=”5K7lLrLiLl6tpUdOURsuiNqn88jUVS7O”]The Professor of Law’s comment adds to the many expressed by Ghanaians following the diplomat’s controversial statement over the weekend.

Mr. Ayisi Boateng whilst addressing some party youth at the Kumasi Technical University over the weekend, said he has resolved to prioritize members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in his dealings.

He said although he was to treat all Ghanaians fairly, he believes NPP members are more Ghanaian than others.

“This government is doing its best to create job opportunities and me for instance, I told my people over there [that], it is because of NPP that I’m here, so the NPP man is my priority. I told them when NDC was in power it was Kwesi Ahwoi who was there, now we are in power, so Ayisi-Boateng is here with you. My topmost priority is the problems of an NPP person before any other Ghanaian, take it or leave it.”

Despite the widespread condemnation of the statement deemed divisive and irresponsible, some loyalists of the NPP are justifying Mr. Ayisi Boateng’s comment.

They claim his comment was only a reiteration of an already existing culture in governance, and Mr. Ayisi Boateng must be commended for his frankness.

But Kwasi Prempeh disagrees.

“If I told you that, people get into politics to enrich themselves, so I intend to use whatever position I secure in politics to enrich myself, would my declaration be excusable or justifiable because I was merely stating a sad fact of Ghanaian political life? What sort of logic is that?” he quizzed in a Facebook post on the matter.

Read H Kwasi Prempeh’s full post below:

If the NPP had told Ghanaians openly during the 2016 election campaign that, if elected, the Party will prioritize and cater for the employment and material needs of Party faithful above all other Ghanaians and considerations, would it have won the 2016 elections? Such a statement would have spelt electoral doom for the party.

Thankfully and wisely, the NPP and then-Candidate Akufo Addo/Bawumia did not campaign on any such promise. They know better! They campaigned instead, and appropriately so, on a promise of Creating Jobs and Prosperity for All. That is the contract the NPP made with Ghanaians.

And it is on the basis of that contract that one must judge the wisdom or unwisdom of the controversial statement made by Ambassador Ayisi Boateng. Saying that he’s merely stating a political fact misses the point. He was doing far more than that. If I told you that, people get into politics to enrich themselves, so I intend to use whatever position I secure in politics to enrich myself, would my declaration be excusable or justifiable because I was merely stating a sad fact of Ghanaian political life? What sort of logic is that?

I find it curious that the youth who have a bigger stake in the future of this country by virtue of their age and stage in life are the ones who are most vociferously defending this line of thinking. It is your own graves you’re digging with this sort of facile ideology.

No government, no matter how profligate or reckless in its fiscal management, can build a public sector large enough to create a job for every party faithful. Nor can the economy withstand such reckless politics. Politicians who make a contrary promise are simply being dishonest. And you must be smart enough to know that.

The solution to the tough problem of youth and graduate unemployment does not lie in finding a job in the public services for every TESCON or DELTA FORCE member. It’s just not feasible; it won’t happen. (Besides, not every party faithful belongs or must belong to TESCON or any of the various clubs within the party). What we can and must do, however, is hold government to its promise and duty to create, through smart policies, programs, investments, incentives, and disciplined and judicious management of this nation’s wealth, an expanding economy and private sector that, in turn, creates job, training, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth and new graduates.

This is the only sustainable path. It is the most the politicians can do, if they would be honest with you. But unless we hold them to that promise and measure progress toward that goal, they will take the line of least resistance, which is to find plum and not-so-plum public sector jobs for just a few of you and string the rest along until another election is due. Let’s be realistic–and discerning

Ayisi’s comment suicidal; Nana Addo must act now – Minority
The Minority in Parliament has turned the heat on President Nana Akufo-Addo to break his silence over the widely condemned partisan comment made by Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Ayisi Boateng.

According to the Minority, turning a blind eye on the issue will mean that Akufo-Addo endorses such comments which have been described as “bigotry.”

Ayisi Boateng’s partisan comment ‘senseless’ – K.B. Asante

Retired diplomat and once secretary to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, K.B. Asante, has said the pledge by Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, George Ayisi Boateng, to prioritize the welfare of New Patriotic Party members in his dealings “doesn’t make sense”.

Comments like that put the country on the verge of “rot”, he asserted on the Citi Breakfast Show.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Youth supporting Ayisi Boateng ‘digging own graves’ – Lawyer appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

United’s Dutch manager looks set to play with wing-backs and Young has been tried there in pre-season, and he is enjoying it.

The 29-year-old – whose future Old Trafford looked uncertain – is now hoping for a fresh chance under Van Gaal in the new role.

“I’m enjoying playing there,” Young told the Daily Mirror.

“I can play in both wing-back positions and if the manager calls on me to do something I’ve got every confidence in myself to go out there and play well.

“The Inter game was only the second time I had played there, but we go through it in training, it’s a new system and I feel capable of going out there and doing well.

“I’ll have to see how it goes and it’s down to the manager what happens because he picks the team that goes out there.

“But whenever I’m called upon, I’ll give 100 per cent and if I can continue producing performances like the one in Washington, then I can hopefully stay in the team.

“I’ve always been determined to go out and play and I hope I can stay in the team.

“Of course it was disappointment to miss out on the World Cup, but it’s a new season and a new manager has come in.

“Everyone wants to impress him, but the only way you can do that is by training hard and performing on the pitch and that’s what I’ll be looking to do.”

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Source: Sky Sports

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