The Constitutional Review Committee, chaired by Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, has proposed extending Ghana’s four-year presidential term to five years.
Presenting the Committee’s report to President John Dramani Mahama at the seat of Government in Accra, Prof. Prempeh said the Committee found no justification for introducing a third-term presidency.
“There isn’t… we couldn’t find a place for a third term. We looked and looked and looked. We couldn’t find it,” he said, adding that there was little public demand for such a change and no ambiguity in the current constitutional provision.
Article 66(2) of the 1992 Constitution limits a President to a maximum of two four-year terms.
Prof. Prempeh explained that while the Committee retained the two-term limit, it concluded that the four-year tenure was too short, based on extensive consultations with stakeholders, including former presidents and eminent persons.
He noted that the emerging global and regional norm for presidential terms was five years, pointing out that Ghana and Nigeria currently had some of the shortest presidential tenures in the region.
“We believe we took to heart the view that four years is short. The President takes time to settle in, and then campaigning starts again,” he said.
As part of the proposal, the Committee recommended the introduction of a clearly defined and shorter campaign period, during which political activities such as rallies, jingles, posters and billboards would be allowed.
Prof. Prempeh said this would prevent continuous four-year campaigning and give governments adequate time to focus on governance rather than electioneering.
“So we are proposing a campaign season, like a fishing season, which must be opened before you can fish,” he explained.
The Committee, inaugurated by President Mahama on January 19, took 11 months to complete its work.
Receiving the report, President Mahama commended the Committee for its work and announced that a Constitutional Review Implementation Committee would be inaugurated early next year to begin the implementation process.
