Former UN Senior Governance Advisor, Prof Kwaku Agyeman-Duah, has opposed proposals to reduce the minimum age requirement for presidential candidates from 40 to 30 years, arguing that the office demands a level of maturity and experience that most people at 30 are unlikely to have attained.
He made the comments on Newsfile on JoyNews on Saturday, December 27, during discussions on the ongoing constitutional review being undertaken by the Constitution Review Committee (CRC).
The Chairman of the CRC, Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, has indicated that the Committee is recommending an amendment to Article 62(b) of the 1992 Constitution to lower the minimum age for contesting the presidency from 40 to 30 years.
However, Prof Agyeman-Duah questioned the basis for the proposed amendment, stressing that leadership at the level of the presidency requires substantial exposure, maturity and practical experience.
“Personally, I didn’t like the idea of reducing the age from 40 to 30 because I think that at 30 years you don’t have enough maturity. Pardon me for those who think I am wrong,” he said.
He added that the Ghanaian socio-economic context makes it even more difficult for young people to acquire the depth of experience required to govern effectively by that age.
“I think if you take the Ghanaian context into account, for instance, most Ghanaians from the villages, as I come from, by the time you finish your first degree, you are almost 27 or 28, and even if by then you have finished your master’s degree, what experience do you have, what exposure have you had to run the country? because running the country is not running NUGS organisations,” he explained.
Prof Agyeman-Duah further emphasised that age often brings perspective and judgement that are essential for state leadership.
“At my age, I know that 30 years simple, you haven’t attained the age of maturity to run a state,” he stated.
The CRC recently presented its constitutional review report to the President as part of its mandate to examine and propose reforms to the 1992 Constitution. Several of the Committee’s recommendations, including the proposed reduction in the presidential age threshold, have since sparked widespread public debate.
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