Ghanaian male workers will soon enjoy paternity leave after the confirmation of the birth of their children.

"A male worker on production of a medical certificate issued by a medical practitioner or a midwife is entitled to paternity leave after the birth of his child for a period of five working days," the Chairman of the Constitution Review Implementation Committee (CRIC), Professor Emmanuel Victor Oware Dankwa has said.

He added that a memorandum has been signed by the Minister for Employment and steps had been taken towards its passage.

He said this at a media briefing on the performance of the Committee.

He stated that the mandate of the committee was to assist Government to implement the recommendations of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC). The Commission which was inaugurated in 2010 completed work officially in December, 2011. He said the terms of reference of the CRC could be summarised as "to consult with the people of Ghana on the operation of the 1992 Constitution and on any changes that need to be made to the Constitution".

Giving the background to its establishment, the chairman outlined that the committee was set up under paragraph (a), clause (1) of Article 278 of the Constitution. He added that the Commission directly and indirectly reached millions of Ghanaians in the consultative process. He noted that formal submissions received, processed, coded and stored in a database by the Commission were 83,161.

Administratively, the Commission drew the attention to issues of the Presidency, noting that the Vice President could step in the shoes of the President whenever necessary; it also looked at appointment of the Chairperson of the Council of State.

He added that Article 242 (a) was amended to abolish the mandatory membership of Members of Parliament on a District Assembly.

However, Members of Parliament may be co- opted as non-voting members of the District Assembly.

The amendment also suggests that District Chief Executives be elected.

He also mentioned the Commission recommended that District Chief Executives should be elected. That he explained "the president shall nominate a minimum of five persons who shall be vetted by the Public Services Commission (PSC) for competence; and select three of the number vetted by the PSC to contest in a public election in the metropolis, municipality or district and the person who obtains the majority of the valid votes cast shall be declared elected. The President no longer has the power to remove from office District Chief Executives, as the present Article 243 (3) (b) empowers him to do".

The Chairman noted that Article 199 was also amended to give Parliament the authority to vary the retirement age for officers in any public service.

SOURCE: ISD