Mahama convenes special Cabinet meeting on Constitutional Review proposals tomorrow, May 14

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President John Mahama will chair a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday to decide government’s position on proposals captured in the constitutional review process, government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu has disclosed.Speaking in a yet-to-be-aired edition of PM Express, the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP said a draft position paper has already been prepared following extensive consultations by the Attorney General and the President’s legal team.“I think on the day that the report was presented, sometime last year, the President indicated that he had handed it over to the Attorney General and his legal counsel to study and advise government on what position to take on the recommendations that had been made.“So that exercise has been concluded, and a draft report has been submitted. I mean, a draft position paper has been submitted to government,” he said.“So tomorrow, Thursday, 14th May, there will be a special cabinet session chaired by the president himself to consider the draft position paper.”According to him, the outcome of the meeting will determine the government’s official stance on the recommendations proposed under the constitutional review exercise.“We would then take a decision on what exact position to take on the various recommendations,” he stated.Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the approved position paper would later be made public for Ghanaians to understand government’s views on the review process.“I believe that not too long after that, the position paper that is approved by Cabinet will then be made public for people of Ghana to know what government makes of the whole constitutional review process,” he added.He clarified that, unlike a commission of inquiry, the constitutional review committee does not require the issuance of a white paper.“Mind you, because this is not a commission government is not required to issue a white paper. Ordinarily, a white paper would have been issued if it were a commission that did this work, but this is a committee, so the most government can do is to issue a position paper,” he explained.Pressed by host Evans Mensah on why the Cabinet session was being treated as special, the government spokesperson said the constitutional review process was the main reason for the meeting.“It’s a one-item session…There may be one or two items. But the main reason why this session has been called is this constitutional review process,” he said.He revealed that government is already preparing to move into the implementation phase once Cabinet approves the document.“Once the position paper is adopted and approved, then we’ll move to setting up an implementation committee,” he disclosed.Felix Kwakye Ofosu also indicated that government would decide which proposals to adopt, amend or reject.“So there are some that they would advise be accepted, some they would advise be varied, some that we cannot work with because of certain constraints or certain impediments, but all that will become clearer once cabinet considers it, and we engage Ghanaians on it,” he said.