The Daily Searchlight’s managing editor, Mr. Kenneth Agyei Kuranchie, has filed a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of former president John Mahama for reelection in the upcoming general election in 2024.
After losing his first two presidential elections in 2016 and 2020, John Mahama is running for re-election for a second term.
He was recently chosen as the opposition National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) flag bearer in the Party’s primary elections on May 13 after receiving 98.9 percent of all valid votes cast.
However, Mr. Kuranchie’s lawsuit aimed to contest the former President’s eligibility to run for re-election.
A declaration that the length of a presidential term in Ghana is four years on the basis of a true and proper interpretation of Article 66 (1) of the 1992 Constitution is one of the reliefs Mr. Kuranchie requests.
“A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 66 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution, a person seeking a second presidential term must be a sitting president.
“An order directed at [John Mahama] to fully disclose to Parliament the terms of his engagements with Parliament as flagbearer of a political party.”
Re-election Bid
Despite being defeated in the 2016 and 2020 elections by incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo, the 64-year-old said he had decided to run again after months of consultations.
“At this stage, Ghana demands experience and not experiment,” he told supporters clad in the party’s green, red, black, and white colours in the NDC’s Volta Region stronghold.
“Ghana needs a leader who will hit the ground running on 7 January 2025,” he said, referring to the inauguration following the December 7, 2024, ballot.
The NDC held primaries on May 13 to elect its presidential candidate. Mahama was challenged by three others, including a former finance minister, Kwabena Duffuor.
Ghana, a major exporter of cocoa and gold, has defaulted on its external debts including Eurobonds, and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion line of credit to strengthen the economy as inflation soars.
Mahama said it cannot be business as usual and promised to cut the size of government and expenditure if he wins.
He also pledged to probe the current government’s spending, including the expenditure of funds to help with the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ghana is struggling with inflation at more than 50 percent in January and a sharply devalued cedi currency, hit hard by the effects of the global pandemic and fallout from the Ukraine war.
Once seen as an investors’ favourite, Ghana has recently struggled with its debt mountain. The government spends more than half of its revenues on debt servicing.