"Even if it were true that democracy is competitive with development, it does not follow that people must be more concerned with improving nutrition than casting votes or more concerned with health than political participation.
The primary issue is not whether it is more important to eat well than to vote but who is entitled to decide which is more important". Prof Claude Ake.
An American theologian, Reinhold Niebhuhr notes significantly that "man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary".
Democracy is learnt and practised to the extent that if we falter and relapse, we can be enmeshed in oppression.
So we must at all times appreciate that democracy embodies ideals of freedom and self-expression but without clarity about human nature.
Thus, it is only by struggle, dialogue and political pluralism that we can deepen democratic mores and norms.
We must admit and accept the fact that " participation in the political process means more than the opportunity to exercise the vote.
It means as well having a political climate that not merely tolerates dissent but welcomes it.
Dissent is at the heart of participation, for participation must imply the right to say to the establishment in all spheres Yes, or No or But".
Recently, the Leader of Parliament, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, has copiously been quoted to have said that if the National Democratic Congress decides to allow President John Dramani Mahama to contest for Presidential election in 2028, he would support the move.
Not only him, but there is one Kokroko Kwasi Kokuro Oppong Agyare, who in an article in the Daily Graphic of Saturday December 6, 2025 subtly, in asking whether there is the need for a review of the 1992 Constitution for a third term for the President, leaves no one in doubt that he has concluded that President Mahama more than deserves a third term because he has proven to be exceptionally good towards the sustained physical and material development and progress of our country.
He cites a few countries, Singapore, Rwanda, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, where the absence of term limits has ensured sustainable development, but fails to mention one country where term limits have caused retrogression.
The only fact is that the NDC could make the move only if the 1992 Constitution is amended. Article 289 ( 1) gives discretion to Parliament to amend any provision of the Constitution, provided the amendment has gone through the recommended processes provided in the Constitution.
Article 290 sets out a number of provisions as entrenched which includes Chapter 8 on the Executive, which covers Articles 57 to 88 with Article 66(1) and (2) providing that " a person elected as President shall, subject to clause (3) of this article hold office for a term of four years beginning from the date on which he is sworn in as President " and that "a person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two terms".
Article 290 (2)(3) (4) (5) and (6) provide for the amendment of an entrenched provision with the concomitant requirement that a national referendum, at which not less than 40 per cent of all the registered voters must cast the vote with not less than 75 per cent voting in favour of the matter in issue to succeed. Thereafter, Parliament is enjoined to pass it for the President to assent.
No one should be misled by the massive number of seats won by the National Democratic Congress in the 2024 election to assume that Ghanaians are ready to tamper with the constitution because of good governance.
More importantly, we should not forget that when President John Agyekum Kufuor suggested an adjustment of the term from four to five years, many yelled at him.
In the case of the election of District Chief Executives, despite initial widespread support, when it mattered most, there was an outcry.
In the end, what many considered a worthy and popular exercise was terminated to avoid splintering the nation further beyond the NDC/ NPP factionalism.
I am bolstered in my resistance against increasing the presidential term limit, because my Roommate President John Dramani Mahama has clearly rejected such a move and expressed his determination not to seek re-election in 2028.
More importantly, there is a process to engage our people on the aspects of the 1992 Constitution that they would want to see amended or changed.
We must wait for the outcome of the Constitution Review Committee set up by President Mahama and chaired by Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh.
If indeed Ghanaians want an open tenure for our Presidents, it will come out forcefully and when it becomes apparent that, that is the desire of our people, then we would have to go through the process for amendment, not that one person has the Midas touch or magic wand to transform our country or a limitless tenureship is what we want for our Presidents.
There is thus no need for the indecent haste and rush to single out President Mahama as the only one who deserves a third term to transform this country.
Any Ghanaian who is part of the advocacy to increase our presidential term limit, but has ever spoken against such a policy in any part of the continent, does not have principles, values or integrity.
We do not need any needless and dysfunctional process that could enmesh our country in a political conundrum to impoverish and destroy our democratic journey.
Already, there have been subtle acts to make the public services and public and civil servants subservient to the government, particularly the Executive.
In the past, we saw many senior public and civil servants transformed into spokespersons of the government.
Two classic examples were the Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission and Owusu Bempah, the PRO of Ghana Gas Company, perhaps the remote cause for the unjustifiable invasion of that public establishment by supporters of the NDC after the party won power in the 2024 general election.
Today, we also have chief executives and public affairs or public relations managers holding positions of fiduciary responsibilities in civil and public services, acting as spokespersons of the Executive and engaging in fundamentalist and sycophantic partisan discourse without any attempt at maintaining the objective national cause.
There are others working in public institutions as Public Relations Officers who proudly refer to themselves as "party communicators or communication officers" or in the crudest form as serial callers.
One can cite the NDC Deputy Director of elections, Tanko Computer and a Deputy Chief Executive of the Environmental Protection Authority, an academic, who openly resort to promoting the interests of the NDC, even when the facts are clear and the national interest is imperilled.
When we have governments which tolerate such practices, we should not be motivated to give them more time to govern; otherwise, some of our people may never serve our country and advance their causes because they would never have the opportunity to benefit from an open and transparent system.
It may thus be providential that the Economic Commission for West African States has found it worthy to recommend my Roommate, President Mahama, for the Chairmanship of the African Union in 2027.
The Chair of the AU cannot be embroiled in internecine constitutional agitations because some opportunists want a term extension to enable President Mahama seek another presidential term, even when he has stated with certainty that he will not seek another election in 2028.
There is a need to respect the privacy and position of President Mahama to uphold the 1992 Constitution.
This is imperative, for if we can amend the Constitution now because we have found a development-oriented President and must set aside the rules for a performing President to seek a third term, why cannot we amend the Constitution for a life President at any point in time because development is synonymous with democracy.
Last week I tried to appeal to the Chief Justice, Judicial Secretary and Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court to deal expeditiously with the decision of the Tamale High Court on the Kpandai Constituency Election dispute to avert any feeling of injustice or unfairness since the Chief Justice, Mr Paul Baffoe Bonnie, pledged at his vetting that under his tenure no Ghanaian will be denied justice.
The Printer's Devil omitted that portion, but I am extremely satisfied that the Supreme Court has spoken and stopped the Electoral Commission from proceeding with the rerun of the vote until the matter is resolved by the apex court.
Here is where Parliament should have hastened slowly in declaring the Kpandai seat vacant, as has been done in the course of the Fourth Republic anytime the courts have annulled Parliamentary results until the whole judicial process of appeals has been concluded.
Since this may be the last edition of the paper for 2025, I wish readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
God willing, we hope to get back to national discourse with vigour and animation in 2026.
