The Chair of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), Professor H Kwasi Prempeh, has stated that the committee is proposing the removal of the compulsory retirement age of 60 years from the 1992 Constitution.

He argues that it no longer reflects current realities, particularly in academia.

According to Prof Prempeh, the committee believes people should be allowed to work until at least 70 years old.

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Speaking on TV3 on December 27, 2025, he questioned the rationale behind forcing university lecturers to retire earlier than judges.

He explained that the CRC is proposing that the age cap be removed entirely from the Constitution to allow Parliament and institutions greater flexibility.

“Our judges are retiring at 65 and 70, and so why must university lecturers, some of them still very sharp, at 60 years, some of them are actually not even in their prime yet.

“So this is what we are proposing that don’t keep 69 years in the constitution, take it out and then, as and when you need to play with it, it is easier to do it in parliament; you can have a much bigger deliberation around and allow some institutions like universities a bit of a range so they can go up,” he said as quoted by 3news.com.

Prof Prempeh noted that the current arrangement, where lecturers retire at 60 only to be re-engaged on contract, is ineffective.

“Because there are universities, faculties, they retire at 60 and then re-engage them on contract, so everybody knows that it is not working. Let them work to 70,” he stated.

He also cautioned against linking retirement age directly to unemployment.

“You don’t use retirement age that way; there is a problem of employment, the 80-year-old who leaves the classroom is not going to be replaced by the guy who is looking for a job, it doesn’t work that way easily.

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“Look at the issue a bit more holistically. Retirement age has some connections with mobility through the system, but let us not use it as an employment kind of valve,” he added.

MAG/EB

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