It is time Ghana legislated on some key government appointments in order to safeguard the interest of the nation, as well as check the incidence of the "proceed-on-leave" syndrome in the even of a change in government. "As a country, if we want to peacefully co-exist, then we should legislate on who leaves office, proceeds on leave or is outrightly sacked from post when governments change." A National Chairman aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the forthcoming delegates conference, Mr Stephen Ayensu Ntim, who made the call, said such a legislation would help and guide the country to meet good governance standards. He said such a move would also make it easier for people to accept political appointments because it gave clarity to status of job and job security, as well as remove the ambiguities surrounding job security. He said with such a move, when there was a change of government "and you are being asked to proceed on leave, there will be no uproar from the public. "So for both the government and the employee on the street, there is not only justification, but also an enhancement of best practices so far as human resource and development are concerned," he added. Mr Ntim said "we must take advantage of the constitutional review currently going on to effect an amendment, such that when there is a change in government one could consider himself or herself sacked or not sacked when occupying certain key positions in government." "A change in government must not necessarily lead to people losing their jobs," he further stated, and stressed that "the proceed-on-leave syndrome is not helping the country in terms of good governance practices." As of now, Mr Ntim said, leaving the issue to the discretion of the president and the government was not the best, saying, "We should not rob Ghana of experienced hands because of political expediency." He said one unique aspect of labour was that it appreciated in value over time in terms of skills and expertise. "It is time to discuss the issue more thoroughly because we now have a committee for constitutional amendment in place," he said. He said it was unfortunate that people were still being asked to proceed on leave, and urged the government to expand the base to create more jobs for the people. He said the NPP government broadened the base of the economy by introducing the School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme, the National Youth Employment, the Metro Mass Transit, among others, to create more jobs. On his campaign to become the National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Ntim said that so far, he had covered eight out of 10 regions and was embarking on the Eastern and Ashanti regional legs of the campaign from today. The national conference of the NPP takes place in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, on February 27. Source: Daily Graphic