Let's increase presidential term to five or six years - Wontumi pleads

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, has reignited the debate over the four-year Presidential term by calling for a review up to five or six years.

Chairman Wontumi is calling on the Council of State, National House of Chiefs, Parliament of Ghana, Religious Bodies and Civil Society Organisations to critically consider the four year period and possibly initiate moves for a review.

According to him, the four-year period is too short for any President to bring about any meaningful development, stressing that there must be an increase in the tenure to up to five or six years.

Speaking in Ontario, Canada during a special ceremony to commemorate Ghana's 60th Anniversary Celebration, the NPP Regional Chairman asserted that considering the enormity of task and challenges confronting the country, no President can use four year period to surmount them before the next election beckons.

He said under the current circumstances, a President would have wasted a whole year trying to put a government in place including appointing ministers, CEOs, Board of Directors which invariably means that nothing concrete can be done.

Chairman Wontumi observed that in effect, any elected President has a little over two years to serve because " in the last one and half years, the focus will be on working to win the next elections"

"When former President Kufuor made this call during his final days in office, many of us did not understand him but he was right; now look at the pressure on the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo, to assemble a team for his government, he has to spend several months to do this and before we realize the year has ended," Chairman Wontumi stated.

He, therefore, observed that the whole country should take a holistic view of the issue and engage in nonpartisan debate towards amending the clause stipulating a four-year term for a President.