Term limits are about Ghana's democracy, not one man – Asiedu Nketia warns against personalising constitutional debate

The National Democratic Congress has pushed back against framing Ghana's presidential term limit debate around whether President John Dramani Mahama might seek a third term, insisting the real issue is whether the country should preserve constitutional protections for its democracy.

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, NDC national chairman, argued on JoyNews that reducing the conversation to personalities obscures a fundamental constitutional question: should Ghana maintain or remove restrictions on presidential tenure?

"The underlying principle is about whether the nation should remove term limits or hold on to our constitutional term limits for presidents. It's not about President Mahama," he said, describing previous coverage as "too simplistic."

Why it matters for Ghana

Ghana's 1992 Constitution introduced a two-term presidential limit as a deliberate safeguard for democratic stability. This provision came after decades of political turmoil—before 1992, the country had not experienced a peaceful transfer of power between opposing political parties. The term limit mechanism forced even popular presidents to step down.

Asiedu Nketiah pointed to Jerry Rawlings, who remained highly popular but left office, and John Agyekum Kufuor, who similarly exited despite continued public support. Without constitutional constraints, he argued, these leaders might have sought to remain in power, destabilising the political system.

Removing presidential term limits now could expose Ghana to the instability seen in West African neighbours. Guinea's president recently removed term limit protections to extend his grip on power, triggering a military coup. Similar constitutional manipulation has preceded democratic collapse elsewhere in the region.

The guardrails argument

Asiedu Nketiah used a construction analogy to explain Ghana's position. He compared term limits to wooden scaffolding that supports concrete while it hardens. Remove the supports prematurely, and the entire structure collapses.

"Is our democracy matured enough now that if we remove these guardrails, will the whole thing collapse or our democracy can still move on?" he asked, questioning whether Ghana's democratic institutions are yet resilient enough to function without constitutional restrictions on presidential power.

The NDC chairman stressed that any national discussion on altering presidential term limits must prioritise democratic consolidation and long-term stability rather than serve the ambitions of individual political figures. Ghana's experience before 1992—marked by military interventions and contested transfers of power—demonstrated why such constitutional protections were essential.

As debates intensify in coming months, Asiedu Nketiah's intervention signals the NDC's position that Ghana should focus on strengthening rather than weakening its democratic safeguards, regardless of which politicians might benefit from removing them.