Nothing wrong if the constitution to allow Mahama to run for a third term – Freddie Blay
Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has shared his thoughts on the heated national conversation about whether former President John Dramani Mahama is eligible to contest the 2028 general elections.
According to him, while the courts have the power to interpret the constitution, the final decision about who becomes president lies with the people of Ghana.
Speaking in an interview on Oyerepa FM on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Freddie Blay acknowledged that the issue of the presidential term limit is a constitutional matter that may require interpretation by the Supreme Court. However, he stressed that if the highest court rules that Mahama can contest again, he personally has no issue with that.
“The law is in the bosom of the judges,” Blay said. “If it goes to the Supreme Court—which has the exclusive judicial right to interpret the Constitution—and that body decides that what it means by two terms is conservatively this or that, I don’t have a problem with it.”
He was quick to draw a clear line between what the law says and what the electorate decides. “The law court does not vote for a president,” he pointed out. “The individuals who constitute a panel and may look at a case have only one vote each. It is the people of this country who will vote.”
Blay noted that if the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) chooses John Mahama as its flagbearer again, it would be within the party’s democratic rights. What happens next, he said, is up to the Ghanaian people at the ballot box.
His comments come at a time when the issue of Mahama’s eligibility has triggered fresh legal and political debates. John Mahama, who served one full term as president from 2013 to 2017, also completed the remaining months of the late President John Atta Mills’ term after his passing in 2012.
Some members of the NPP believe Mahama is attempting to go beyond the constitutional two-term limit for a president. NPP’s National Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye, recently raised concerns that Mahama is plotting to return for what would be a third term—by manipulating the judiciary.
According to Nana Boakye, Mahama has allegedly been appointing people to key judicial positions in order to influence a favorable interpretation of Article 62 of the 1992 Constitution, which deals with presidential term limits.
“He knows it will be difficult to get a referendum. So, what I can do is pack the court with judges who will favor me, then sponsor a judicial interpretation of Article 62, which states that everybody has two terms,” Nana Boakye alleged in an interview on Peace FM.
He claimed Mahama is hoping the Supreme Court will interpret the constitution in a way that allows non-consecutive terms, meaning Mahama could lawfully return to the presidency even after being out of office.
“He wants to rely on such an interpretation to go for a third term,” Boakye insisted.
Meanwhile, supporters of the NDC argue that Mahama has served only one elected term under Article 66(1) and is eligible for another. They believe the constitution allows a president to serve two four-year terms, whether consecutive or not, and that Mahama’s first stint—finishing Mills’ term—does not count as an elected term.
Freddie Blay’s statement offers a more neutral and pragmatic view, calling for respect for constitutional processes but leaving the final decision to the electorate. In his view, whether Mahama is allowed to run again or not, it should be the people of Ghana who ultimately decide his political fate at the polls.