The Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) Ghana, has urged Parliament to pass the Property Right of Spouses Bill and the Intestates Succession Bill as a matter of urgency to regulate the property rights of spouses in accordance with the 1992 Constitution.

The Bill seeks to give a larger portion of the estate of the deceased to the spouse and children than is normally the case at present. It is to make the law more responsive to the needs of the immediate family of persons who die intestate that, this bill is being proposed.

LAWA Ghana, Alumnae in collaboration with the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) disclosed this at a press briefing in Accra, yesterday, adding that the importance of the extended family is gradually shifting to the nuclear family as pertains in other parts of the world. The nuclear family is therefore, gaining an importance which is not reflected in the current laws of succession.

The Director of Legislative Drafting at the Attorney General’s Department, Mrs. Estelle Appiah, said that the new Bill is to remove the anomalies in the present Law that will be uniformly applied throughout the country, irrespective of the inheritance system of the intestate and the type of marriage contracted.  

“The 1992 Constitution of Ghana that came into force on the 7th January 1993, which spells out the property rights of spouses as a fundamental human right and placed the obligation on Parliament under Article 22, to enact legislation to regulate the property rights of spouses that will ensure that spouses have access to property jointly acquired during marriage and for equitable distribution of same between the spouses upon termination of marriage,” she noted.

Sheila Minka-Premo, chairperson of LAWA Ghana, said with the Property Right of Spouses Bill, it seeks to ensure certainty in matters connected with the property rights of spouses, ensures fairness in determining matters that relate to the property rights of spouses and also to clarify the law for effective implementation. She emphasised that the new bill will not only benefit women but men as well. Mr. E. K. Bandua, chairman of the Constitutional Legal and Parliamentary Affairs assured the advocacy group that plans are afoot to ensure the passing of the Bill by Parliament as soon as possible.

The chairperson of the advocacy group, Mrs. Gloria Ofori-Boadu, on her part, opined that the media has a role to play as media gender advocacy to enforce Parliament to endorse the Bill.

Source: ISD (Lawrencia Ziwu/Priscilla Aidoo)

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