The National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in the 2020 elections, John Dumelo is proposing a 5-year tenure in office for a president of Ghana.
With the current constitutional provision, a president is elected into office for a 4-year tenure after which he could seek re-election for a second term in office and will not be eligible to seek reelection after serving two terms of 8 years in office.
But John Dumelo believes a tenure of 4 years is not enough. He contended that a president practically has two years of the 4-year tenure to effectively deliver on his mandate as the first year is spent in setting up the government and the fourth year for campaigning for reelection hence, he wants an extension of the president’s tenure in office to 5 years.
“4 years is not enough for ANY President/ Government to function effectively. The first year is used to settle down in the office and the last year for campaign, leaving only 2 years for effective work. We should consider 5 years per term,” he stated in a post on social media.
The actor cum politician is not the first person to make such a proposal. Former president, John Agyekum Kufuor and his predecessor, Jerry John Rawlings both made similar proposals years back.
In his last State of the Nation Address, the second president of the Fourth Republic stated “What my experience tells me is that a tenure of four years for the president of a struggling developing nation with weak institutions may be too short. This is especially so for an incumbent who, though popular, may lack the requisite experience at the point of assuming office. Reasonable room should be allowed for the newly elect to settle into the job”.
John Kufuor suggested “Perhaps, a five-year term renewable once would create the needed space for making a better impact”.
His predecessor, John Rawlings, who barely agreed with him on anything, shared similar view in 2018 when a delegation of Ugandan MPs called on him. Mr. Rawlings argued that a 4-year tenure is not enough as a president is usually left with a year or less to execute his mandate. He believed a five-year tenure would give the president enough room to effectively implement his policies for the development of the country.
