Ghana risks turmoil if Supreme Court reinterprets presidential term limits — Nana B

The National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, has cautioned that Ghana could face constitutional uncertainty and political instability if the Supreme Court adopts what he described as a “strange” interpretation of Article 66 of the 1992 Constitution on presidential term limits. Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, July 28, he warned that any judicial interpretation permitting a president to seek office beyond two elected terms could have far-reaching consequences for the country’s constitutional order. “I will be very sad, and Ghana will be thrown into a state of turmoil if any strange interpretation is put on this article,” he said.

This he explained is because the constitutional provision governing presidential tenure is clear and leaves no room for an interpretation that would allow a president to seek office beyond two elected terms, whether consecutive or otherwise. “I am even surprised why we have this debate so popular at this time. There is a sinister motive, and I will expose it today,” he said.

According to him, any legal action seeking a different interpretation of Article 66 is politically motivated. “In fact, any application before the Supreme Court for a certain twisted, a certain unwholesome, a certain unhealthy interpretation on Article 66 is sponsored. We should not be deceived,” he stated.

Mr Boakye cited Article 66(1), which provides that a person elected as President shall hold office for a term of four years beginning from the date they are sworn into office, and Article 66(2), which states that “a person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two times.” He maintained that the Constitution clearly defines both the length of a presidential term and the maximum number of times an individual may be elected. “The term is already defined for you in Clause 1. Now Clause 2 says that you cannot hold it for more than two times.

This argument of continuous terms, consecutive terms, for me, is weird and is an absurdity,” he argued. The NPP National Organiser rejected suggestions that only consecutive terms should count towards the constitutional limit, warning that such an interpretation could allow a former president to alternate between serving and sitting out terms indefinitely. To illustrate his argument, Mr Boakye said a president could serve one four-year term, step aside …

According to him, while President Mahama has publicly stated that he has no intention of seeking more than two terms in office, his comments on a pending matter before the Supreme Court leave room for what he believes could become a dangerous constitutional precedent. Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, July 28, Mr Boakye said, “The posturing of President Mahama is very deceptive. President Mahama is trying to say, ‘As for me, I think two terms, two terms.