"I will engage further on whether or not men should be granted paternity leave"- Adwoa Safo

The Minister-designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo, says if given the nod, she will engage further consultations on whether or not men should be granted paternity leave to assist their wives.

She said it was not out of place for men or husbands to go on paternity leave since it existed in other jurisdictions, including Israel.

However, there should be proper consultations so that it does not create an avenue for some men or husbands to abuse the privilege should it become operational.

Ms Safo said this when she appeared before the Parliament's Appointments Committee on Wednesday, for vetting.

The Minister-designate answered questions relating to the School Feeding Programme (SFP), Livelihoods Empowerment Programme against Poverty, delayed payment of caterers' under the SFP, property rights of spouses, welfare of Kayayie (head potters), protection of the vulnerable, and rights of lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender(LGBT), among others.

Ms Safo assured of her commitment to re-lay the Affirmative Action Bill which has been in and out of Parliament for numerous occasions.

She also expressed her intention to put forward a bill on the property rights of spouses upon dissolution of marriage and the Aged Bill if given the nod.

On whether or not she will close witches camps, Ms Safo said she would introduce novelty programmes to rebrand the Camps and provide the needs of the inmates, since the majority of the aged women tagged as witches were not willing to return home.

With regard to the controversial issue of the rights of LGBT, Ms Safo noted that Section 104 of the Criminal Code incriminated the practice, therefore it was non-negotiable.

Also, the country's culture frowns on it and, therefore, stood by the position of the law and culture of the Ghanaian society.