The chairman of Ghana’s Constitutional Review Committee, Professor Kwasi Prempeh, has clarified that the proposed shift from a four-year to a five-year presidential term will not apply to President John Dramani Mahama.

Speaking on the committee’s recommendation on JoyNews on December 25, 2025, Professor Prempeh emphasised that President Mahama was elected under the current constitution, which stipulates a four-year term.

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“It’s not possible, he [John Mahama] was elected under a constitution that gives him only four years. It cannot change his term midstream; it’s not possible,” he said.

He added that the committee initially debated whether to explicitly state in their report that the five-year term would only take effect after the current tenure.

“In fact, in an earlier version of this report, for the avoidance of doubt, we had stated that this would take effect after this [tenure], and then some amongst us said, well, but if we say that only with respect to this recommendation, it would appear that the rest would not apply,” Professor Prempeh explained.

Ultimately, he said, the committee decided against specifying the clause in detail, opting instead for a broad application of all recommendations after the current tenure.

“So, we said no, everything applies after. So, we just said no, we didn’t need to be that specific about it, so we left it,” he added.

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The clarification comes amid ongoing public discussion about proposed constitutional changes, including extending the presidential term from four to five years and other governance reforms.



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