Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a social activist and private legal practitioner, has said the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) proposal for an extension to the presidential term to five years must be decided by a referendum.
Barker-Vormawor criticised the CRC for placing the proposal under the semi-entrenched provisions of their recommendations.
According to him, the issue is too important to be left solely in Parliament’s hands, adding that it must be subjected to a national referendum to allow Ghanaians to directly decide.
He noted that the categorisation is intended to simplify the amendment, but argued that the presidential term is a core aspect of Ghana’s democracy and should be decided by the Ghanaian public.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Point of View on January 7, Oliver Barker-Vormawor stated, “I disagree with the committee. I think it is one of the questions that should go to a referendum. It is one of the questions that they put into the semi-entrenched that goes to parliament. I think this is a question that people should speak on.
“They have put the two-term under the referendum question, so anything that concerns the length of term should go together,” he said.
Meanwhile, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, also known as Kwaku Azar, a legal scholar and governance advocate, has joined the debate surrounding the presidential term limits in the country.
According to Kwaku Azar, both arguments that four years is too short and two terms are not enough sound reasonable, but both miss the point.
He highlighted that the problem is not the length of the term, but it is the quality of the governance.
In a Facebook post, Kwaku Azar wrote, “Four Years Is Enough—If We Stop Wasting Them. Every election season, two familiar claims echo across our political space: “Four years is too short,” and “Two terms are not enough.”
Both sound reasonable, but both miss the point. The problem is not the length of the term — it is the quality of the governance”.
In related news, the Global InfoAnalytics new poll has revealed that 57 per cent of Ghanaians approve of the Constitutional Review Commission proposal to extend the presidential term from four to five years.
On Monday, December 29, the poll released shows that 57 per cent of respondents approve of the change, while 36 per cent oppose it, with 7 per cent not having an opinion on the issue.
The polls follow, the Constitution Review Committee has recommended a one-year extension of Ghana’s presidential term.
The Committee proposed that Ghana’s presidential term be moved from the current four-year tenure to a five-year term to enable governments more time to govern.
Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, the Chairman of the Committee Presenting the Committee’s report to President John Mahama on Monday, December 22, and made this known.