Ghana’s constitutional review committee recommended extending the president’s term to five years from four.
The committee set up by President John Mahama soon after he took office in January didn’t suggest changing the cap of two terms for the office but proposed reducing the minimum age for a president to 30 years from 40, it said in a final report presented to the leader.
Lawmakers will see the proposals before they are put to citizens through a referendum, Minister of State for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu said.
The former British colony adopted the current constitution in 1992 and has seen other coups d’etat after the military overthrew the first president, Kwame Nkrumah, in 1966.
The committee further recommends limiting the number of ministers and deputies to 57 while barring the appointment of members of parliament to those positions. There’s currently no cap, and this created a burden for the state when Mahama’s predecessor, Nana Akufo-Addo, appointed more than 100 ministers and deputies to office.
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Mahama, 67, resoundingly won a second term in the December 2024 elections as Ghanaians expressed their frustration against Akufo-Addo’s management of finances that led to a debt restructuring. Before his victory, Mahama had promised that he would review the constitution to strengthen governance.
