Why have we glued ourselves to a 4-year election cycle? - Prof Agyemang-Duah questions

Professor Baffour Agyemang-Duah, the Co-Founder of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), has ignited a debate on Ghana's electoral system, questioning the adherence to a rigid four-year election cycle.

According to him, it is time for a reconsideration of the four-year duration in Ghana's politics.

Presently in Ghana, the constitution 1992 only allows for the country to hold an election every four years, where electorates decide or not to change a government.

Professor Agyemang-Duah, speaking at an event, raised concerns about the rigidity of a four-year tenure, emphasising that countries like Britain operate without a fixed tenure for their leaders.

He questioned the rationale behind Ghana's decision to adopt a four-year cycle and suggested that the constitution drafters might have been influenced by American practices.

“Another point, why are we glued to a 4-year tenure? Why is that it is in every four years that we have elections? Some countries have their election every five years, seven years and all. Britain doesn't even have a tenure. Once you are a prime minister, you remain there until you are voted out by your party or by the general population. So, why do we have to impose on ourselves that it should be four years?

“I don't know the rationale of the constitution drafters decided for four years. Maybe, they were just mimicking the Americans. Why didn't we rather mimic the French who then had seven years? All these are questions that we need to ask. But in the end, practised democracy is not a stranger,” he said.

Highlighting a recent example from The Gambia, Professor Agyemang-Duah commended the country's innovative approach to elections.

This, according to Prof Agyemang-Duah, is an innovative approach that countries must consider to reduce the financial burden that comes with periodic elections.

“Let me give you an example. Gambia in their recent elections, they did a very interesting innovation. They said there wasn't much money to conduct electronic elections and all - we spent close to $400 million election times. The government of Gambia said they didn't have the money for such an investment, so they came up with the idea of simply using pebbles and slotting them in barrels. Some people may say that is primitive.

“But the fact is the central part of an election is how people decide who is the next leader, whether it is done by electronics or by remote voting, but The Gambia showed one possibility of limiting the needless expenditure we have on elections. After all, in the end, every election is controversial yet we waste millions of dollars every four years,” he added.

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