Supreme Court nominee Justice Senyo Dzamefe has affirmed his firm support for the constitutional provision that limits presidential terms, declaring his full respect for the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, June 16, 2025, Justice Dzamefe was asked by Suame MP John Darko to comment on Article 66(2), which restricts individuals from serving more than two terms as President of the Republic of Ghana.
Responding to the question on whether the provision was open to interpretation, Justice Dzamefe said:
“Mr. Chairman, the Honourable Member referred to the Constitution, and that is what the Constitution says. So I can’t have anything against what is in the Constitution.”
His comments come at a time of heightened political debate over presidential term limits. Minority Leader and Effutu MP, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, recently alleged that President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are orchestrating a plan to extend Mahama’s presidency beyond the two-term limit.
In a media interview on May 1, 2025, Afenyo-Markin pointed to the President’s nomination of seven new Justices to the Supreme Court as a potential indicator of such a plan.
“It is obvious that the bold attempts by the President to nominate, out of the blue, seven judges to the Supreme Court are the first major steps in a rehearsed third-term agenda,” he claimed.
“All that the NDC is doing is based on advice from its hawks to set a third-term agenda for its leadership.”
President Mahama’s nominations, announced on April 30, 2025, include the elevation of seven Court of Appeal Justices to the apex court. The move, made under Article 144(2) of the Constitution, is intended to strengthen the judiciary in the face of increasing constitutional and governance-related cases.
What is Article 66 (2) of the Constitution says
“A person shall not be qualified for election as the President of Ghana unless -(a) he is a citizen of Ghana by birth;(b) he has attained the age of forty years; and(c) he is a person who is otherwise qualified to be elected a Member of Parliament, except that the disqualifications set out in paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of clause (2) of article 94 of this Constitution shall not be removed, in respect of any such person, by a presidential pardon or by the lapse of time as provided for in clause (5) of that article.
