The Member of Parliament for Manhyia South and Vice Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has argued that major constitutional reforms, including proposals to extend the presidential term, should be determined directly by the Ghanaian people rather than by politicians.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Monday, Mr Awuah was reacting to the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC), which recently presented its final report to President John Dramani Mahama.
The report, which proposes several amendments to the 1992 Constitution, includes extending the presidential term from four to five years and lowering the minimum age requirement for presidential candidates.
“If you look at the trappings of the office of the president, most presidents, obviously, the evidence abounds, would want to stay in office forever. And most party people would also want their party to remain in office indefinitely. So, some of these things, we shouldn’t leave for politicians to decide. It should be for the people,” Mr Awuah stated.
He stressed that such fundamental decisions should not be left in the hands of elected representatives alone.
“It shouldn’t go to the representatives of the people if we want to continue securing our democracy. Especially since the abundant evidence is that where these provisions have been altered in other countries, they have often caused problems,” he added.
Mr Awuah pointed to a recent development in neighbouring Benin as a cautionary example, noting that an attempted coup occurred shortly after the presidential term was extended.
“In recent times, there was a coup d’état in Benin, which did not succeed, shortly after the presidential term had been extended from five years to seven years,” he said.
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