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24 year old joins race to become Council of State member

The Council of State is traditionally constituted of ex-civil servants, chiefs, the clergy, former justices of the superior courts and close allies of the president, who are all well over the retirement age.

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A 24-year-old man has picked up nomination forms to run for Greater Accra Region’s Council of State position.

Desmond Kofi Decker is a journalist with Accra-based Class FM and if voted for by an electoral college, would be the youngest ever member of the council, whose main responsibility is to advise the president on key national decisions.

“What informed my decision to run for Council of State for the Greater Accra Region was that: it is the conviction and love to serve mother Ghana.

he told Pulse.com.gh in an interview.

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he added.

He is also to challenge the notion that young people cannot offer wise counsel by virtue of their age.

The president is mandated to consult the council in the selection of Supreme Court judges, the head of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.

Analysis

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Fifty-one percent of the world’s population is under 30 but only two percent of parliamentarians worldwide are under 30.

As such, Desmond Decker’s resolve to join this body is unprecedented and will undoubted cause other young to feel enjoined to engage in national political discourse. Decker’s run follows the successful election of 24-year-old Francis Oteng-Mensah to become the Member of Parliament for the Kwabre East Constituency during the 2016 elections. She is currently the youngest parliamentarian in the seventh parliament.

When Oteng-Mensah was elected the NPP’s parliamentary candidate, the head of Department of Political Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Richard Amoako Baah described her as “too young” and inexperienced for the task.

In 2016, the United Nations Youth Envoy Ahmad Alhendawi, endorsed a campaign by a youth group based in Nigeria dubbed “Not Too Young To Run.”

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The campaign not only encourages young people to run for office, but calls on countries to eliminate age barriers set on public offices.

According to the campaign, 73 percent of countries worldwide have age-barriers to those who can run for elected office although they can vote for those same offices.

Despite the numerous advantages to having younger leaders, including policies which reflect contemporary thinking and aspiration, there are significant barriers even if age limits are lowered.

Political party structures pivot on old friendships, election nomination forms are dear and society’s idea of the ‘wise age’ are going to need some significant challenging before concrete change will happen.

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