Government Accepts Proposal To Extend Tenure Of President And MPs From 4 To 5 Years 

The Ghanaian government has accepted a proposal to extend the tenure of the President and Members of Parliament from four years to five, though the change will not apply to the current administration, according to officials familiar with the constitutional reform process.

The proposal originates from the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), an eight-member body chaired by Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, which recommended the extension while keeping the existing two-term limit intact.

The committee’s chair has confirmed the longer term would not apply to President Mahama himself, who was elected under the current four-year rules and must leave office in 2029.

President Mahama has publicly backed the reform, arguing that Ghana’s current four-year term is too short for governments to implement meaningful policy before election pressures set in, stating, “For the four years, you set up your government in the first year, and before you realise you are going for an election.”

However, because the presidential term is entrenched in the 1992 Constitution, the change cannot be implemented by government or parliamentary vote alone, it requires a national referendum, needing at least 40% voter turnout with 75% in favour to pass.

The CRC also recommended lowering the minimum presidential age from 40 to 30, alongside caps on the number of ministers and deputy ministers.

Government’s acceptance moves the reform a step closer to a public vote, though the timeline for any referendum remains unclear.