Member of the Movement for Change, Solomon Owusu, says some Ghanaians would not have allowed President John Mahama to seek a third term even if he had attempted it.
Speaking on Prime Insight on JoyPrime on Saturday, August 30, Mr Owusu described suggestions of a third-term bid as “needless,” insisting that Ghana’s constitution makes such a move impossible.
“I was very surprised to hear people conjecture that the president was thinking about running for a third term. I mean, when the Constitution was so clear, some of us would have chased him out.
“He has no business contemplating even contesting for the third term. Two terms are enough for anybody who wants to do serious business with this country,” he stated.
He said that national attention should be placed on institutions rather than individuals.
“The focus must not be on the president. The focus must be on the state, and that is why when you read the directive principles of state policy, Article 36 is very clear. It mentions the state.
“So instead of focusing on the president, we must focus on building stronger institutions. So that whoever is occupying the position, is implementing policies that have been outlined by the state, and then we will not feel their presence,” Mr Owusu explained.
He said that Ghana’s history has long safeguarded the two-term limit.
“There is a reason why the 1969 Constitution also made it clear that every president must have two terms, and this was repeated in the 1992 Constitution,” he said.
Mr Owusu also questioned why members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) were pushing the conversation when they had previously beaten President Mahama in elections.
“Yes, I thought it was coming from the opposition party, especially the New Patriotic Party. They were pushing the agenda. But I found it very, very interesting because here was a candidate, here was President John Mahama, whom the party, the NPP, said they defeated in 2012. The party went to the Supreme Court to challenge his election.
“Here was someone that they defeated beautifully in 2016 by a whopping gap of almost a million. So if this person had even the intention of contesting for the third term, I thought the opposition would be happy because you believe he is no match for them,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Mahama has declared that he will not seek a third term, bringing an end to such speculations.