NPP Rejects Five-Year Presidential Term

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has firmly rejected a proposal to extend Ghana’s presidential term from four to five years, saying the current four-year term should remain in place. This stance is in contrast to that of the government, which has agreed to the Constitutional Review Committee’s (CRC) recommendation for a five-year term for the presidency.

The NPP argues that this proposed change isn’t necessary, especially since moving the presidential elections from December to November would allow a new administration more time for a smooth transition into office. Alhassan Tampuli outlined the NPP’s viewpoint during a press conference on Thursday, September 17.

“The Constitution Review Committee recommended that the Presidential term be extended from four to five years. The Attorney-General informed Ghanaians that the government has accepted that recommendation but we have taken a different position from the position of government and the CRC,” the party said.

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“We do not support the extension and we support the retention of the existing four-year term.”
The party argued that a four-year presidential mandate strengthens democratic accountability by enabling citizens to periodically assess the performance of a government and either renew or withdraw their mandate.

The NPP also supported the CRC’s recommendation to reduce the minimum age for presidential candidates from 40 to 30. The government has instead proposed a minimum age of 35.

The party said it agreed with the CRC that the minimum age should be set at 30, arguing that the current threshold of 40 limits opportunities for younger Ghanaians to aspire to the country’s highest office.

“We share the position of the CRC that the minimum age should be 30. The current minimum age of 40 unnecessarily restricts the ability of younger Ghanaians to aspire to the high office of the Republic,” the NPP said.

It added that setting the minimum age at 35 would still exclude a significant proportion of young Ghanaians from contesting the presidency.