The National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker for Bolgatanga East, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has reacted to the lawsuit against former President John Dramani Mahama.
According to him, the suit filed by Kenneth Kwabena Kuranchie of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is baseless and infantile.
On Monday, June 12, 2023, Mr. Kuranchie filed a petition at the Supreme Court requesting that Mahama be qualified from contesting in the 2024 general elections on the grounds of Articles 66 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution.
He is seeking a true and proper interpretation of Article 66 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that the number of years of a presidential term in Ghana is four.
A declaration that, on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 62 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution, a person seeking a second presidential term must be a sitting president.
Speaking in an interview on Citi FM, monitored by 1Family Radio, Dr. Dominic claimed that Mr. Kuranchie has created certain confusion in his own head and that the Supreme Court shouldn’t be bothered with this.
“I have read through the petition, and to be completely honest with you, aside from the fact that it isn’t well-drafted, it is a non-issue because, according to the language of the constitution, a president of the republic is entitled to two terms. However, he is now arguing that because the Constitution forbids serving more than two terms, a person who has served one term cannot be elected to another term.’’
“In essence, the plaintiff is asking the Supreme Court to insert the word “consecutive” into the Constitution’s language. Although I can’t say for sure, I don’t think the Supreme Court will be eager to do this because if the drafters of the Constitution had wanted to prevent the candidates from running for office again, they would have stated that a person is only allowed to serve two consecutive terms,’’ Dr. Dominic stated.
Source: 1Familyradio
