Two Supreme Court nominees have affirmed their unflinching commitment to upholding the two-term constitutional limit for Ghana’s presidency. This commitment follows rising political concerns over an alleged third-term agenda by President John Dramani Mahama.
The justices made the remarks during their respective vetting sessions before Parliament’s Appointments Committee this week, following the President’s nomination of seven new judges to the Supreme Court on April 30, 2025.
The nominations, made under Article 144(2) of the 1992 Constitution, have generated considerable public discourse, with sections of the opposition questioning the timing and motive behind the appointments.
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Appearing before the Committee on Tuesday, June 17, Justice Philip Bright Mensah underscored the clarity and finality of the constitutional provision that bars any individual from holding office as President for more than two terms.
“There is no ambiguity as to the number of terms an elected President can serve. The law is clear, and I will go by what the Constitution provides,” he said in response to a question referencing Article 66(1) of the Constitution.
Justice Mensah further stated that he did not consider himself empowered to depart from or reinterpret entrenched provisions of the Constitution.
“I do not think I have any authority to speak in contravention of this constitutional provision, nor would I attempt to. My position is clear: the law is clear, and we should maintain it as it is,” he emphasised.
Justice Senyo Dzamefe, who appeared before the Committee a day earlier on Monday, June 16, expressed a similar position. Responding to a question posed by the Member of Parliament for Suame, Mr. John Darko, he indicated that the constitutional text on presidential tenure was unequivocal.
“Mr. Chairman, the honourable member referred to the Constitution, and that is what the Constitution says. So I can’t have anything against what is in the Constitution,” he stated.
Their comments come against the backdrop of public statements made by the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Mr. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who alleged that the President’s nomination of the justices was part of a calculated effort to pave the way for a third presidential term.
In a media engagement on May 1, 2025, Mr. Afenyo-Markin said: “It is obvious that the bold attempts by the President to nominate, out of the blue, seven judges to the Supreme Court are the first major attempt at all that they have rehearsed — a third-term agenda.”
He claimed that the strategy was being executed on the advice of senior members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to lay the foundation for an unconstitutional extension of tenure.
Meanwhile, Article 66 of the Constitution, which limits a president to two four-year terms, is an entrenched provision. Any attempt to amend it would require a national referendum by Article 290.
The constitutional provision reads: “A person elected as President shall hold office for a term of four years. A person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two terms.”
The firm positions taken by Justices Mensah and Dzamefe may help restore public confidence and assure Ghanaians that the Supreme Court will remain a bulwark for constitutionalism and democratic governance.
By Osumanu Al-Hassan/thenewsbulletin24.com