Mr. Abdul-Shakur Saeed, a lawyer at the Attorney Generals' Department in Wa, has called for the amendment of Article 62(b) of the 1992 Constitution to enable young people to contest for the Presidency of Ghana.
He expressed worry that the provision states that a person shall not be qualified for election as the President of Ghana unless he has attained the age of forty years.
Mr. Saeed said that the age limitation was preventing young, ambiguous and intelligent Ghanaians from serving the country in the capacity as President.
He made the call at a constitution review forum, organised by the Constitution Review Commission in collaboration with the National Commission on Civic Education, at Wa on Monday.
Concerning election petition, Mr. Saeed called for a review of Article 48(2), which indicate that a person aggrieved by a decision of the tribunal may appeal to the Court of Appeal whose decision on the matter shall be final.
He said it is only fair for a person with an election petition to be given the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court if he or she is not
satisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal on the matter.
Naa Seidu Braimah, a Traditional Ruler, said the participation of chiefs at the District Assembly level was low and called for a review of the decentralization process, especially Article 242 of the Constitution, which spells out the composition of the District Assemblies.
He suggested that 15 per cent of the 30 per cent appointments made by the President to the District Assemblies should be made by chiefs to ensure their participation at that level.
Naa Braimah, who is also a member of the Council of State, said he was against recent debate that District Chief Executives (DCEs) should be elected by their constituents.
He explained that it could result in "development crisis" as the DCEs might not respect their superior authorities if elected.
Naa Braimah proposed that the President should nominate three persons so that the Assembly members would vote to choose one of them as DCE.
Naa Walaman Danyagri, a Divisional Chief in the Wechiau Traditional Area, called for the amendment of Article 276 of the Constitution to allow chiefs to participate in partisan politics.
He said that even though politicians are aware that the provision prohibits chief from engaging in partisan politics, they always approach traditional rulers to solicit their support during elections.
Other participants called for the reduction of the powers of the President of Ghana and the three arms of government made to assume some of
the powers to ensure effective checks and balances in governance.