Ghana needs 5-year presidential tenure of office - Woyongo

Mr Mark Woyongo, the Minister of Interior, has proposed a five - year presidential tenure of office for the country to ensure that the winning party fully executes its development agenda.

Mr Woyongo, also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Navrongo Central, made the proposal in an interview with the GNA after his return from Burkina Faso where in had gone to witness the swearing-in of Mr Roch Marc Christian Kabore , the new president.

“The five years period for the tenure of office of the Presidency will be very ideal for Ghana. There is the need to review the constitutional provision to create a room for that, just like our neigbouring country Burkina Faso which has five years under its constitutional provision for her tenure of the Presidency”, the Interior Minister proposed.

The ceremony in Ouagadougou attracted about 5,000 people and various heads of states from Benin, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

Mr Woyongo argued that with the four year period for the Presidential tenure of office in Ghana, it would be very difficult for any political party who emerges as winner to execute all planned development agenda.

He said in the last elections for instance, the initial year was spent in battling the election problem in court leaving only three years for the National Democratic Congress government to execute its agenda.

Mr Woyongo said quite often too, the government in power under the four year tenure system was not able to focus adequately in the fourth year as it is an election year and has to campaign.