Increase retirement age to 70 - Prof Kwaku Asare

Prof Stephen Kwaku Asare a US-based legal practitioner and an accounting professor, after his earlier call for the revocation of the appointment of Mr Martin Amidu over his age as Special Prosecutor based on the constitution, is back again.

This time, the respected academician is calling for the retirement age to be increased from the current 60 to 70.

According to him, the current retirement age of 60 years, is “too low” and a “constitutional taboo”.

The very active social media user, as is usual of him posted on his Facebook page that the constitution of Ghana was being “defiled” over the retirement age question when, to him, the simple solution lied in amending that section of the law.

“I rise this morning to move that the retirement age of public officers be increased to 70 years. As recent events have shown, the current retirement age of 60 years is too low and can lead to constitutional taboos such as Parliament creating institutions whose occupants are deemed to be non-public officers, therefore not subject to the rule on retirement age, or are public officers whose retirement age is magically equated to that of Court of Appeal Justices.

“This daylight and shameless defiling of the Constitution is unnecessary when all we have to do is to amend it”, he wrote; concluding with his signature “Da Yie!”.

Followers split

While some of his followers agreed, a lot more of his youthful followers disagreed, questioning whether the rationale behind the proposal was because there was absence of abled young folks to replace the retiring old folks.

The US-based Professor had in an earlier post called on President Nana Akufo Addo not to corrupt the law but he should revoke Mr Amidu’s appointment in the face of what the law says regarding the retirement age of public servants.

“My advice to his excellency is to withdraw the appointment of Mr. Martin Amidu. We must refocus on prosecuting corruption not corrupting the clear law on retirement age”, he wrote.

He again wrote: “On January 20, 2018, and at various times, including this morning, I have drawn attention to the age requirement of Article 199(1).

Ayine vs the AG

In a related development, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga East and former Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Dominic A. Ayine has filed a suit in the Supreme Court of Ghana challenging the eligibility of Mr Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor, and is praying the august court to cancel the appointment made by His Excellency Nana Addo with immediate effect as Mr Amidu, now 66 years of age- well beyond the retirement threshold of public servants under the 1992 constitution of Ghana- is unqualified for the nomination.

Mr Amidu, who has since been vetted and unanimously endorsed by the Vetting Committee on Tuesday as first Special Prosecutor of Ghana is waiting to start work while his final fate remains in the hand of the Supreme Court whose bench Mr. Amidu declined a nomination to in the year 1999.