Amansie-West wants the President's four-year term extended

Manso-Nkwanta (Ash), June 9, GNA - Participants at a two-day community level consultation held by the Constitution Review Commission at Manso-Nkwanta in the Amansie-West District have called for extension of the President's term of office from four to five years.

They said this was necessary to give the government sufficient space to carry through its development agenda.

Additionally, they want a change of the present system where district level elections are non-partisan.

The political parties, they said, should be allowed to sponsor candidates to contest assembly polls.

They said it was no secret that the political parties deeply work behind-the-scenes to get their members and sympathizers elected to the assemblies and it was time the hypocrisy ended. Again, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (DCEs), should be picked through the ballot to make them more accountable to the people.

Mr Charles Oti Prempeh, the DCE, suggested that the district assemblies' common fund (DACF) should be raised to 10 per cent of the total national revenue from the current seven per cent. This, he said, would enable them to provide more development projects to improve the lives of the people. Mr Ernest Owusu, Counsel to the Commission, said the review was an attempt to fashion out home grown solutions to the country's governance problems.

He said it should also be seen as good house-keeping and it was on account of this that all should actively participate in the process to consolidate democracy. Nana Owusu Antwi, Krontihene of Manso-Atwere, appealed for more resources for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to step up public education on the constitution. 09 June 10