Cabinet approves spousal property bill

Cabinet has approved the Spousal Property Rights Bill which seeks to ensure equity and certainty in the sharing of property among spouses.
Article 22 Clause Three of the 1992 Constitution requests the promulgation of the Spousal Property Right Bill, seven months after the coming into being of the Constitution, but it has delayed for more than 20 years.

A new feature of this bill is the 'Cohabitation' provision which empowers spouses who may not have been legally married but have been living together as a couple to enjoy property rights.

Briefing journalists at the Flagstaff House yesterday, a Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, said the bill provided guidelines for sharing of property among spouses.

''The bill will ensure certainty in the property and how it is distributed,'' he said.

Cabinet also approved the bill for the migration from analogue to digital television broadcasting.

The deputy minister said the migration would cost the government about $ 95 million.

He said the government would pay the $95 million within three years.

Touching on Cabinet's discussion on the effect of the election petition on the economy, Mr Murtala Muhammed said the Cabinet had decided that the government should remain focused in the implementation of government's policies towards growing the economy.

He said Cabinet felt that the challenges faced by the economy in the last eight months should not distract the government from pursuing important socio-economic policies.

By Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Daily Graphic/Ghana