An aspiring presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Nsafoah Opoku, has rekindled the debate about Ghana’s presidential term limit and how that has directly contributed to the country’s slow pace of development.
Kwadwo Nsafoah Opoku says the limitation of the presidential term has weakened the country’s path to development.
“The country’s foundation is ruined, and that is why many people say that the four-year or eight-year term must be changed. Because four years is not enough with the kind of problems in this country,” he stated.
Kwadwo Nsafoah believes the continuous subscription to these terms has hindered tangible development.
The presidential aspirant told Obidehyie Ofori Amanfo on Nhyira FM’s ‘Kuro Yi Mu Nsem’ show that Nana Akufo-Addo’s performance is justifiable against the expectations of the party.
“You dedicate the first year to forming your government. You have the next two years to run the nation, and you use the final year to prepare because you might want to come back again for re-election, so you effectively have only two years. What can you do with two years?” he quizzed.
“One thing we must keep in mind is that we can’t always have a leader who will execute 100 percent of all they set out to do every time,” he said.
According to him, forceful measures are required to make changes in Ghana.
“If you do not bring about radical changes given the four years, you will not be able to change anything in Ghana in that period,” he said.
He supported the call for the constitution to be amended, saying, “many have called for constitutional change, and I believe we should look at our constitution because in countries where there is development, the president has enough time to change things.”
Kwadwo Nsafoah Opoku is the Director of Gasop Oil Company Limited, and one of ten presidential hopefuls of the NPP.
