Opposition party voices are screaming and wringing their hands over the fear that the President might extend his term in office in the media.
But here is the thing.
The unemployed graduate in Accra, the cocoa farmer in Sefwi, and the market woman in Nsoatre do not care about that.
They need outcomes.
They do not measure democracy by how frequently power changes hands, but by whether their lives are changing for the better.
And yet, in Ghana, we have gradually reduced the presidency to a game of musical chairs—when the music stops, someone must rise, regardless of whether the house is finally being repaired or not.
Leadership
National leadership is not a ceremonial rotation. It is a trust.
A solemn mandate to improve lives, rebuild institutions, and secure the future.
Democracy was never designed to satisfy political impatience or elite anxiety; it exists to serve citizens.
Today, President John Dramani Mahama governs under rare political conditions.
His party enjoys broad national goodwill and an unprecedented parliamentary supremacy. This is not entitlement; it is political capital well earned.
The question Ghana must ask is not who goes next, but whether this moment is being used to deliver lasting repair after years of economic distress, sleaze and incompetence.
Oposition
Opposition voices have grown anxious, warning against any conversation that challenges rigid political timelines.
But anxiety is not a democratic argument.
The same political class that presided over eight years of economic decline and fiscal recklessness now invokes constitutional morality without acknowledging the damage done to citizens’ lives and indigenous businesses demolished for political reasons.
Democracy demands honesty, not selective outrage.
Delivery
Across the world, mature democracies understand that leadership is judged not merely by duration, but by delivery.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times not because America abandoned democracy, but because the Great Depression and World War II demanded continuity of competent leadership.
Post-war Germany prioritised reconstruction and stability over strict term limits.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shigeru Roshida’s long tenure provided continuity needed for the country’s remarkable economic recovery.
Singapore’s transformation did not come from constant leadership churn, but from sustained, disciplined governance focused on results.
Term limits
This is not an argument against term limits. Term limits exist for good reason—to prevent tyranny, stagnation, and the capture of the state.
Africa’s history makes this caution legitimate. But term limits were never meant to punish performance, nor to interrupt national recovery midstream.
They are a means to an end, not the end itself.
The real red line in any democracy is not how long a leader stays, but whether the government is doing right and whether power remains accountable.
Independent institutions, a free press, credible elections, judicial oversight, and an empowered citizenry are the true safeguards of democracy.
A country with these pillars intact is not endangered by continuity; it is endangered by complacency and low expectations.
What should concern Ghanaians is not the abstract fear of longevity, but the concrete reality of non-performance.
Not leaders who stayed too long, but those who stayed briefly and broke too much.
Dangerous
Presidents who come and go while destroying institutions are far more dangerous than leaders who remain while rebuilding them. And that is Ghana’s story.
Having endured years of economic pain, citizens are yearning not for political rituals, but for visible progress—jobs that last, schools that function, hospitals that work, and institutions that inspire confidence.
These outcomes do not emerge on an electoral timetable; they require consistency, discipline, and time.
This is not a call to suspend elections or weaken constitutional order.
It is a call for an adult national conversation—one that centres citizens rather than political careers, results rather than rotations.
Democracy is not a concert theatre. It is a responsibility.
Neither is the presidency a game of musical chairs.
It is a covenant with the people to fix what is broken, to build what endures, and to leave the country stronger than it was found. Ghana deserves nothing less.
Development policy advocate,
Baltimore MD, USA.
E-mail: Jangoba34@gmail.com
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
