Economic Policy Analyst Senyo Hosi has predicted that the Supreme Court will throw out the five suits currently before it seeking interpretation of Ghana’s presidential term limit, describing the cases as without merit.
“The Supreme Court will dismiss the whole thing. Write it on the wall,” Mr. Hosi said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on October 31.
“There are too many cases at the Supreme Court. This is not where we should be wasting our time,” he added.
Mr. Hosi argued that the court has no basis to entertain the suits because Article 66(2) of the 1992 Constitution is clear on its face, and the attempt to create ambiguity where none exists should not be encouraged.
Background
The suits centre on Article 66(2), which provides that “a person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two terms,” with each term being four years under Article 66(1).
The legal dispute is whether the two-term limit is an absolute lifetime cap or applies only to consecutive terms.
Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai confirmed in August that five cases are pending against the Attorney-General on the issue:
– J1/4/2026 – Azubila E. Salam v Attorney-General, filed December 23, 2025
– J1/20/2026 – Kenneth K.A. Kuranchie v Attorney-General, filed June 30, 2026
– J1/21/2026 – Ganiwu Alhassan v Attorney-General, filed July 9, 2026
– J1/26/2026 – Eric Appiah v Attorney-General, filed July 20, 2026
– J1/27/2026 – New Patriotic Party v Attorney-General, filed July 30, 2026
The NPP’s suit, filed by its lawyer Godfred Yeboah Dame, is asking the Supreme Court to declare that “two terms” means a maximum of two terms, whether consecutive or non-consecutive, and that no person can hold office for more than eight years in total.
The party also wants clarity on whether a Vice-President who takes over for more than half of an unexpired term can contest for only one more term, and whether a person who has served one term can serve only one additional term.
The issue has gained political traction because President John Dramani Mahama served from 2012 to 2017 and returned to office in January 2025. While some suits seek an interpretation that would bar a third term, others are reportedly seeking to allow it.
Legal scholar Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, known as Kwaku Azar, has similarly argued that the Supreme Court should not act as a “constitutional advice centre” and should dismiss cases that fail to disclose a genuine constitutional dispute, citing the Bilson case. ac0a
The Supreme Court is yet to fix a date for hearing the consolidated suits.
