Five-year terms, elected DCEs and independent emoluments commission among constitutional review proposals

President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed the key proposals emerging from the constitutional review process, including extending presidential, parliamentary and assembly terms from four years to five years, the election of District Chief Executives, the establishment of an independent emoluments commission and fixed terms of office for the Chief Justice and Electoral Commissioner.

The President made the disclosure on Thursday while addressing the Civil Society Forum in Accra, where he gave the most detailed public account yet of the recommendations submitted to government by the Constitutional Review Committee following extensive consultations across the country.

He said the proposals also included freeing the President’s hands from the requirement to appoint a majority of ministers from Parliament, a provision that has long been a subject of debate among governance experts and political actors.

“Some of these proposals are quite interesting and will deepen our democratic consolidation,” President Mahama said.

He said Cabinet was currently considering the recommendations and that once its deliberations were concluded, the government’s position would be presented to the Constitutional Review Implementation Committee for onward processing and presentation to Parliament to initiate the necessary constitutional amendment process.

The President told the forum that the constitutional review represented far more than a technical exercise, describing it as an opportunity for national renewal and a chance to ensure that Ghana’s constitutional architecture remained fit for purpose in a rapidly changing environment.

He said the process would strengthen democratic governance, enhance accountability, deepen decentralisation and improve the effectiveness of public institutions, but only if it was conducted transparently and with broad citizen confidence in both the process and its outcome.

President Mahama called on civil society organisations, professional bodies, traditional authorities, faith organisations, youth groups and women’s groups to remain actively engaged as the process advanced, saying the constitution belonged to the people of Ghana and its continued evolution must reflect their collective aspirations.

“The constitution belongs to the people of Ghana, and its continued evolution must reflect the collective aspirations of our people,” he said.

The disclosure came days after the President had told the 2026 Ghana-EU Partnership Dialogue that Cabinet would that week finalise its position on the constitutional amendments, signalling that a government response to the committee’s recommendations was imminent.

Richard Aniagyei, ISD