Government has accepted the Constitution Review Committee’s (CRC) recommendation for the minimum age eligibility to contest for President to be adjusted downward from 40 years to 35 years.
The Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, presenting the Government’s position on the report to the media on Thursday, July 30, 2026, indicated that the recommendation was accepted in principle.
“Still on the Presidency, the Committee recommended that the minimum age of eligibility for election as President be reduced from forty years to thirty years,” he stated.
“The Government has accepted this recommendation in principle, subject to one modification: the minimum age will be thirty-five years, not thirty,” he added.
Dr. Ayine continued that, “the current threshold of forty excludes qualified citizens from seeking the highest office on the basis of an arbitrary age line.”
According to him, Government made the decision based on current democratic practices in other jurisdictions.
“Thirty-five is consistent with the trend in modern democratic constitutions towards greater inclusivity, while ensuring that a candidate for the highest office has attained a measure of maturity and experience,” he stated.
The Constitution Review Committee (CRC) was established by President John Dramani Mahama in January 2025. The committee’s mandate was to review Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, identify areas that need updating, and propose amendments to align with the country’s evolving democratic and socio-economic realities.
The committee was chaired by Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), and comprised eight members, including legal and governance experts such as Justice Sophia Adinyira, Professor Kwame Karikari, and former Electoral Commission Chairperson Charlotte Osei.
The CRC’s report, titled “Transforming Ghana: From Electoral Democracy to Developmental Democracy,” was submitted to President Mahama on December 22, 2025, after nearly a year of nationwide consultations.
The report proposed various reforms, including extending the presidential term from four to five years, and changing the date for presidential elections from December to November.
Government accepts recommendations to extend presidential term from 4 to 5 years
