Keypoints:
- Government backs five-year presidential terms
- Asah-Asante says four years are sufficient
- Presidential eligibility age could fall to 35
GHANA’S government has backed a proposal to increase presidential terms from four to five years, opening a constitutional amendment process expected to culminate in a national referendum in 2027.
The proposal does not immediately change President John Dramani Mahama’s mandate. The presidential term is an entrenched provision requiring voter approval, while the corresponding extension of Parliament’s tenure would follow a separate amendment procedure.
Government seeks longer governing window
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dominic Ayine said the government had accepted recommendations from the review of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution. They include five-year presidential and parliamentary terms, a lower minimum age for presidential candidates and elections during the first week of November.
Ayine said the longer cycle would give administrations more time to govern because transition work consumes the early months and campaigning dominates the final year.
The decision advances the five-year term proposal presented by the Constitutional Review Committee, chaired by H Kwasi Prempeh, in December 2025.
The committee recommended retaining the two-term limit, meaning a president could serve for a maximum of 10 years rather than eight if the reform passes.
The distinction matters because the governing National Democratic Congress has rejected suggestions that it intends to remove Ghana’s two-term presidential ceiling.
‘Four years should be enough’
Dr Kwame Asah-Asante, a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Ghana, challenged the case for extending the term during a TV3 discussion.
He argued that administrative delay and weak preparation, rather than the four-year cycle, prevented governments from delivering quickly.
‘What is it that one year can do for a government that has wasted four years?’ he asked.
Asah-Asante said governments often moved slowly after taking office, then shifted much of the state machinery towards campaigning by the third year. A well-organised party, he argued, should be ready to implement its programme immediately.
‘A government which is serious about its business will begin to work straight away,’ he said. ‘Four years should be enough for that government to deliver the public good.’
His intervention places accountability at the centre of the debate: whether an additional year would improve policy continuity or simply lengthen the interval before voters can judge an administration.
Candidate age proposal questioned
The government also accepted in principle a reduction in the minimum presidential qualification age from 40. It modified the committee’s proposed threshold of 30, settling instead on 35.
Asah-Asante opposed the reduction, describing 35 as ‘very low’ and saying he preferred the existing threshold of 40.
He argued that prospective presidents needed professional experience, maturity and mental preparation to withstand the pressures of governing.
The government also endorsed moving presidential and parliamentary elections from December to the first week of November. The change is intended to provide more time for declaring results, resolving disputes and managing the transition before the January 7 inauguration.
Different amendment routes
Two amendment bills are expected by October 2026.
Under Article 290, the presidential term provision falls within entrenched Chapter Eight. The bill must be referred to the Council of State, published in the Gazette and left for six months before introduction in Parliament. After its first reading, it must go to a national referendum.
At least 40 percent of persons entitled to vote must participate, with at least 75 percent of those voting supporting the bill.
Article 113, which sets Parliament’s four-year term, is not among the entrenched legislative provisions listed in Article 290. Its amendment would therefore follow Article 291, including approval by at least two-thirds of all MPs at the second and third readings.
The NDC’s super-majority in Parliament may ease that route, but it cannot replace the referendum required to alter the presidential term.
What happens to Mahama’s term?
The government has not indicated whether the five-year cycle would affect Mahama’s present mandate or begin with a future term.
That will depend on the commencement and transitional clauses contained in the legislation. It would therefore be inaccurate to suggest that Mahama has already received an additional year in office.
Until the bills are passed and voters approve the entrenched change, Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary terms remain four years.
