Kufuor backs five-year presidential terms: "Election year anywhere on earth is mad year"

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has backed extending Ghana's presidential term from four years to five, putting him at odds with his own New Patriotic Party.

Speaking to Evans Mensah on JoyNews' PM Express, broadcast on Wednesday 28 October, Kufuor said he still believes in a two-term limit, but that four years is too short for a developing country. "Election year anywhere on earth is mad year," he said, describing the fourth year of a term as a time when "everybody's going around promising and talking". On his party's position he said: "For whatever reason, if my party says no, that's their viewpoint." He added: "I didn't say [it] to lengthen my stay."

Not a new idea

Kufuor first asked for five-year terms, renewable once, in his last address to Parliament on 5 January 2009, shortly before leaving office (MyJoyOnline, VOA). The change was not made.

Where the proposal stands

The Constitution Review Committee, chaired by Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh, recommended in December 2025 that the terms of both the president and Parliament be extended to five years, keeping the two-term limit. Its reasoning was that a president governs for little more than two years once the early months of appointments and the final campaign year are taken out. The committee also proposed a defined campaign period, outside which rallies, posters and billboards would not be allowed (Graphic Online).

The government accepted the five-year term in July 2026 (Dubawa; MyJoyOnline). The NPP formally rejected it at a press conference on 17 September, arguing that a four-year term lets voters judge a government more often (Citi Newsroom; MyJoyOnline).

Prof. Prempeh has said the change would not apply to President Mahama's current term (MyJoyOnline).

A referendum decides

The presidential term is set by Article 66 of the 1992 Constitution, an entrenched provision. Changing it needs a national referendum in which at least 40% of registered voters take part and at least 75% of those voting approve (Dubawa; government position paper). The government has said it plans to hold that referendum alongside the 2027 District Assembly elections.

The cost of election years

Ghana's budget deficits have repeatedly overshot their targets in election years. In 2012 the deficit target was about 6.7% of GDP and the outturn about 11.5% (World Bank; Fact-Check Ghana). In 2016 it was 5.3% against 8.7% (2017 Budget, via Fact-Check Ghana). In 2024 it was 4.2% against 7.9% on a commitment basis (Graphic Online, citing the Finance Minister). The 2012 and 2016 elections were under NDC governments and 2024 under the NPP.