NPP lawyer Gabby Otchere-Darko warns that Supreme Court cases arguing Ghana’s two-term limit covers only consecutive terms could let a president return to office indefinitely.
Three separate suits are now pending before the court seeking that interpretation of Article 66(2) of the 1992 Constitution, according to Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem-Sai. The cases are Azubila Salam versus the Attorney General, filed in December, Kenneth Kuranchie versus the Attorney General, filed in late June, and Ganiwu Alhassan versus the Attorney General, filed July 9. Alhassan, a teacher from Kpandai in the Northern Region, argues through his lawyer that the constitutional bar applies only to two consecutive terms and should not stop a president who served two separate, non-consecutive terms from running again.
Otchere-Darko posted his objection on X the day the Alhassan suit was filed. He argued that if the court accepts that reading, President John Dramani Mahama, who is serving a second term after an earlier term separated by Nana Akufo-Addo’s eight years in office, could in theory contest again in 2028 once his current term ends. Under that same logic, Otchere-Darko wrote, a loss in 2028 would let him return in 2032, a win there would let him try again in 2036, a loss in 2036 would let him run once more in 2040, and a win in 2040 would let him seek yet another term in 2044, since only two wins in a row would ever count as consecutive.
“That is not interpreting the Constitution. It is rewriting it,” he wrote.
Otchere-Darko pointed to the text of Article 66(2), which bars a person from being elected president for more than two terms without using the phrase two consecutive terms. He argued that the framers knew how to write that qualification in and chose not to, so asking the Supreme Court to add it now would amount to amending the Constitution through judicial interpretation rather than reading it as written.
He is not alone in that view. Professor Kwasi Prempeh, who chaired Mahama’s own Constitutional Review Committee, has called on the court to throw out the suits entirely, and NPP spokesperson Akosua Manu has separately urged judges to reject any reading that lets the term limit reset. Centre for Democratic Development researcher John Osae-Kwapong has argued the two-term cap applies regardless of whether terms are consecutive.
Mahama has repeatedly said he has no intention of seeking a third term or changing the Constitution to allow one, including during a visit to Singapore last August. The Attorney General has yet to respond to the suits, and the Supreme Court has not scheduled a hearing date.
