President John Dramani Mahama during his swearing-in on January 7, 2025
GhanaWeb Feature by Ishmael Batoma:
The General Secretary of the largest opposition political party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Kodua, has alleged that there are plans to enable President John Dramani Mahama to contest for a third presidential term.
He asserted that the plan revolves around the interpretation of Article 66 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which talks about the presidential term limit.
But is it possible? Can President Mahama, who is serving his second term as president, run for office again?
First of all, what does the constitution say about the presidential term limit?
Article 66(2)
Article 66 of the 1992 Constitution categorically states that elected presidents can only serve two terms, with a term being a period of four years.
“(1) A person elected as President shall, subject to clause (3) of this article, hold office for a term of four years beginning from the date on which he is sworn in as President.
“(2) A person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two terms,” section 1 and 2 of Article 66 states.
So, the keywords in this constitutional provision are “elected president” and “two terms.”
President Mahama has been elected to serve as president of Ghana twice, and he is allowed to serve for two terms.
Having already served his first term of 4 years between 2013 and 2016, Mahama can only be president till January 7, 2029, when his second term ends.
So, there is no ambiguity in what the law on the term of office of the president says.
However, one of the things being thrown about regarding the law is it being for only presidents who served their two terms in succession. Mahama is the only two-term president in the history of the 4th Republic of Ghana who did not serve consecutive terms.
But there is no mention of the phrase “successive term”, as some are asserting, which would mean that because Mahama did not serve two continuous terms, he can run for president again.
Is there a way Mahama can be elected president again after his second term?
The only way President John Dramani Mahama can be elected into the office of the president again after his second term is if Article 66 of the constitution is amended.
Article 66 is under Chapter 8 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which is an entrenched provision. Unlike other unentrenched provisions of the constitution, which can be easily amended by a parliamentary majority, amending entrenched provisions is very rigorous.
President Mahama could have easily amended Article 66 of the constitution to give himself more terms in office, that is, if he is even entertaining such thoughts, because of the super majority (183 out of 276 seats in the House) the NDC has in Parliament.
However, as pointed out earlier, Article 66 is an entrenched provision and will require the say of the people of Ghana to be amended.
In other words, only Ghanaians can give Mahama a third or more term in office.
For an entrenched provision to be amended, it must gain at least 75% support in a referendum in which more than 40% of registered voters take part.
Below are the exact words of the 1992 Constitution for the amendment of entrenched provisions:
(2) A bill for the amendment of an entrenched provision shall, before Parliament proceeds to consider it, be referred by the Speaker to the Council of State for its advice, and the Council of State shall render advice on the bill within thirty days after receiving it.
(3) The bill shall be published in the Gazette but shall not be introduced into Parliament until the expiry of six months after the publication in the Gazette under this clause.
(4) After the bill has been read the first time in Parliament it shall not be proceeded with further unless it has been submitted to a referendum held throughout Ghana and at least forty percent of the persons entitled to vote, voted at the referendum and at least seventy-five percent of the persons who voted cast their votes in favour of the passing of the bill.
(5) Where the bill is approved at the referendum, Parliament shall pass it.
(6) Where a bill for the amendment of an entrenched provision has been passed by Parliament in accordance with this article, the President shall assent to it.
In conclusion, there is no way Mahama can serve for a third term under the current constitution, unless the people of Ghana want him to.