Extend term of presidency to seven years – KB Asante

A retired diplomat, K. B Asante, has called for Ghana’s presidential term to be extended from four to seven years.

Mr. Asante said the extension of presidential term with an additional three years will allow leaders to complete the much-needed national projects.

Article 66 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana said: “A person elected as President shall, subject to clause (3) of this article, hold office for a term of four years beginning from the date on which he is sworn in as President. ”

Clause (2) said: “A person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two terms. ” Early this year, the Constitution Review Commission submitted a voluminous report to President John Evans Atta Mills after comprehensive evaluation of the 1992 Constitution.

The fine details of the CRC’s recommendations are yet to be made public, but insiders have told The Globe newspaper that the CRC did not propose an extension of the presidential term, although it received a dossier of proposals in support of an extension. Instead, it recommended that the provisions of Article 66 of the constitution be maintained.

However, the former diplomat holds a contrary view.

“The four years is a bit short,” the elder statesman told The Globe. “I can see a president with a development plan. When he comes into power there are many things in the development plan he would want to do. However, his short term is not able to make all these things feasible. ”

Mr. Asante said Ghana needed a president who “would help improve the educational system in the country. A president who will pay teachers very well and will also be strict on parents who don’t send their children to school, even if it means sending them to jail just to force them to send their children to school,” but contended that the current four-year ceiling on the duration of a presidential term limits the ability of Ghanaian leaders to fully roll out their development plan.