Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has rejected the recommendation made by the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) proposing a one-year extension of Ghana’s four-year presidential term.
In a Facebook post on Monday, December 22, 2025, Lawyer Kpebu opposed the proposal, arguing that the four-year term provides sufficient time for a president to implement policies.
Lawyer Kpebu, in his post, wrote, “Extending the 4-year term to a 5-year term is a NOT NOT.”
His come on the back of the Constitution Review Committee recommending 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.
According to the Chair of the committee, they were persuaded by submissions from several eminent persons inculding former president.
He revealed that they argued that the four years is insufficient for meaningful governance, adding that the committee has noted the global standard for presidential tenure is five years.
They cited concern that the President spends about six months settling into office and nearly a year campaigning, noting that a portion of a four-year term is lost to administrative transition and election year.
Prof. Prempeh explained, “The claim was that the President spends about six months settling into office and nearly a year campaigning”.
He, however, revealed that the committee could not find a place for a third term for a president.
According to the Chair of the Committee, nobody really seemed to like the idea of a third term.
Professor H Kwasi Prempeh stated, “We couldn’t find a place for a third term; nobody really seemed to like it, there was really no demand for it”.
He further noted that even the President, John Dramani Mahama, himself was not in favour of it.
The chair added that the committee mainly focus on improving governance efficiency.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has said that the report of the Constitution Review Committee will be implemented starting from early 2026.
According to President Mahama, the Constitution Review Committee report implementation will be done in a bipartisan manner.
Speaking after receiving the final report from the Committee in Accra on Monday, December 22, Mahama stated, “This time we said let’s choose the committee very carefully, so that it’s a committee that Ghanaians have trust in, so that when the report comes it would be nonpartisan, it would not have been influenced by any political interest, so that it would make it easier for all of us to come together and move the process forward,” he noted.
“As soon as we resume early next year, we’re moving from the constitutional review process into the implementation process, and so early next year we’ll announce an implementation committee”, he added.
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