Ghana moves to extend presidential terms, lower presidential age to 35 in biggest constitutional reform push in years

Ghana has backed five-year presidential terms as part of a sweeping constitutional reform programme that could reshape elections, political eligibility, public appointments and institutional accountability in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.

• Ghana’s government plans to extend presidential and parliamentary terms from four to five years.
• Proposed reforms lower the presidential age limit to 35 and permit dual citizens in Parliament.
• Broader constitutional changes will target political financing, executive power, and institutional accountability.
• These amendments require parliamentary approval and a challenging national referendum starting in 2026.

The government accepted a recommendation to extend the president’s tenure from four to five years and agreed in principle that Parliament should serve a corresponding five-year term.

It argues that Ghana’s current electoral cycle leaves governments with too little time to implement and assess major policies because the early months of an administration are dominated by transition arrangements, while the final year is largely consumed by election preparations.

“The early months of every administration are consumed by transition matters, and the final year is largely consumed by elections,” Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dominic Ayine said while announcing the government’s position.

The proposal forms part of a much broader attempt to rewrite important sections of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which came into force in January 1993 and established the country’s Fourth Republic.

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Unlike constitutional changes elsewhere in Africa that have been used to remove presidential term limits or extend an incumbent’s stay in office, Ghana’s proposal does not alter the existing two-term limit. It would instead increase the length of each term from four to five years.

President John Dramani Mahama is also serving what the present Constitution treats as his second and final presidential term. He first led the country between 2012 and 2017 before returning to office in January 2025.

The government also accepted in principle a proposal to lower the minimum age for presidential candidates.

Ghana’s Constitution currently requires candidates to be at least 40 years old. The review committee recommended reducing the threshold to 30, but the government settled on 35, arguing that the existing rule excludes qualified citizens on the basis of what it described as an arbitrary age restriction.

Presidential and parliamentary elections would also move from December to the first week of November, creating a longer period between voting and the inauguration of a new government on January 7.

That change is intended to give the Electoral Commission more certainty and provide additional time for transitions and electoral disputes to be resolved.

Under another accepted proposal, presidential election petitions would have to be filed within 14 days of the declaration of results and decided by the Supreme Court within 30 days.

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But the five-year term and lower presidential age represent only a small part of the reform package.

The government’s position paper responds to more than 147 proposed amendments and about 59 proposed new constitutional provisions.

The committee behind the report consulted more than 500 experts and practitioners, engaged groups representing more than 21,500 people and received 785 written submissions. Among the most consequential proposals is a plan to cap Parliament at 300 members.

Ghana presently has 276 constituency MPs. Under the government’s model, those 276 seats would remain, while another 24 would be filled through proportional representation and allocated among women, young people and persons with disabilities.

The government described the cap as a cost-saving measure that would stop the continuing proliferation of constituencies. It plans to commission a study on how the additional proportional-representation seats would be allocated.

The government also accepted a recommendation that Ghanaian citizens by birth should no longer be barred from Parliament simply because they hold another nationality.

Qualifying dual citizens would be permitted to contest parliamentary elections without first renouncing their second citizenship.

The government said the present restriction is inconsistent with Ghana’s growing engagement with its diaspora and reduces the pool of qualified candidates.

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Another proposal would create a constitutional right of abode for people of African descent in the diaspora, subject to conditions established by Parliament.

The government linked the measure to Ghana’s Year of Return and Beyond the Return initiatives, which have sought to deepen ties with Africans and people of African heritage outside the continent. It said Parliament would determine the conditions for residence and any pathway to citizenship.

The package also reaches into the management of the economy and public institutions.

The review committee proposed stronger disclosure rules covering public debt, government guarantees, public-private partnerships and liabilities arising from state-owned companies.

It also recommended allowing Parliament to establish an independent fiscal council to scrutinise the sustainability of government finances.

However, the government concluded that several of those objectives could be achieved through existing public financial management laws rather than being written into the Constitution.

This reflects a broader pattern in its response: some recommendations were accepted as constitutional amendments, while others were redirected towards ordinary legislation to avoid creating rigid or expensive new institutions.

The government similarly supported creating a Public Ethics Commission and a body to regulate political parties and campaign financing, but rejected proposals to constitutionally establish some other commissions, saying their responsibilities could be handled by existing institutions or legislation.

It acknowledged that creating several new constitutional bodies would carry significant staffing, accommodation and operating costs at a time when Ghana must balance institutional reforms against spending on infrastructure, health, education and social protection.

The reform process is not Ghana’s first attempt to revise the 1992 Constitution.

A commission established in 2010 submitted its report in 2011, followed by a government White Paper in 2012 and the creation of an implementation committee.

However, the recommendations were not fully implemented. A later attempt to hold a referendum on local government reforms in 2019 was cancelled after political consensus collapsed.

The latest proposals are therefore not yet law.,Ghana’s government plans to appoint a Constitution Review Implementation Committee to prepare two amendment bills simultaneously: one covering non-entrenched provisions and another dealing with entrenched sections of the Constitution.

Non-entrenched amendments require the support of at least two-thirds of all members of Parliament. Entrenched provisions must go through a national referendum.

For a referendum to pass, at least 40% of registered voters must participate and at least 75% of the valid votes cast must support the proposed amendments.

The bills are expected to be ready by October 2026, while the referendum on entrenched provisions is expected in 2027.

That difficult approval process means the government’s endorsement is only the beginning.

But after two earlier reform efforts failed to deliver substantial constitutional change, the five-year presidential term will test whether Ghana can build the political and public consensus required to make its most extensive governance reforms in years a reality.