Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has rejected the Constitutional Review Committee’s recommendation to extend Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary terms from four to five years.
Instead, he has proposed reducing the current four-year term to three years, while removing presidential term limits to allow individuals to seek office multiple times.
Speaking on the Sunrise programme on 3FM on Friday, August 14, A Plus described the proposed five-year tenure as unacceptable.
“Extending presidential and parliamentary terms to five years is a no-no… Reduce it to three years and remove term limits so you can contest as many times as you want,” he said.
He argued that the five-year proposal would not serve Ghana’s democratic interests and suggested that former President Nana Akufo-Addo could have been back in office under his preferred arrangement.
“Akufo-Addo would be president by now; I don’t support this five-year tenure proposal for presidents and parliamentarians,” he added.
Government Accepts Five-Year Recommendation
A Plus’s comments come after Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, indicated that government had accepted the Constitutional Review Committee’s recommendation to extend the presidential term from four to five years.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on July 30, Dr Ayine also disclosed that the proposed minimum age for presidential candidates would be reduced from 40 to 35 years.
He clarified, however, that the proposed changes would not apply to President John Dramani Mahama.
Review Committee Rejects Third-Term Proposal
The Constitutional Review Committee recommended the five-year presidential term because Ghana’s existing four-year tenure is too short to allow governments sufficient time to implement their programmes.
However, the committee did not recommend introducing a third presidential term.
Chairman of the committee, Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, said the committee found little support for the idea of allowing presidents to seek a third term.
“We couldn’t find a place for a third term; nobody really seemed to like it, there was really no demand for it,” he said.
The committee also proposed changes to the appointment of heads of state-owned enterprises and recommended a review of the powers of the Attorney-General.
Proposed Changes to Attorney-General’s Powers
Prof Prempeh said some of the Attorney-General’s responsibilities relating to corruption should be transferred to an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The proposal is intended to give the Attorney-General greater independence to focus on international arbitration and major constitutional cases.
Responding to the recommendation, Dr Ayine said the government accepted the principle behind the proposal but argued that the change in question would not require a constitutional amendment.
The debate over the length of presidential and parliamentary terms is expected to remain a major issue as discussions on the Constitutional Review Committee’s recommendations continue.
