Renowned legal scholar and Democracy and Development Fellow at CDD-Ghana, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, has challenged the recurring argument that Ghana’s four-year presidential term is too short for meaningful governance.
According to him, the problem is not the duration of the term but how inefficiently governments use the time they are given.
In a sharply reasoned essay titled “Four Years Is Enough—If We Stop Wasting Them,” Professor Asare—popularly known as Kwaku Azar—dissected what he called the “myth of the short term” and the “mirage of more time,” arguing that good governance is about efficiency, not longevity.
He said both popular claims heard during election seasons—“four years is too short” and “two terms are not enough”—are misplaced and distract from the real challenge: the poor quality of leadership and administrative inefficiency that define Ghana’s governance system.
“The problem is not the length of the term—it is the quality of the governance,” he stated, emphasizing that a well-organized and disciplined administration can deliver transformational results within the constitutionally mandated four years.
The Myth of the Short Term
Professor Asare dismissed the notion that governments need longer terms to plan, implement, and consolidate reforms. According to him, the delays often blamed on short terms are self-inflicted.
“Proponents of longer terms say governments need more time to plan, implement, and consolidate reforms. They argue the first year goes into appointments, the second into launching programs, and the rest into campaigning. But that is not a constitutional flaw! That is a managerial problem”.
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
He criticized Ghana’s prolonged political campaign culture and slow bureaucratic processes, noting that unlike other democracies where campaign periods are brief and structured, Ghana’s political class seems permanently stuck in campaign mode.
“Across mature democracies, campaign seasons are brief. Canada’s longest was 74 days; Japan allows just 12. Here, the campaign never ends”.
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
He further observed that long campaign seasons and excessive political appointments waste precious time that should be spent governing. “Appointments drag on for months; reshuffles outnumber reforms. This is not a four-year problem—it is a forever-campaign problem,” he argued. To fix the problem, Professor Asare proposed a shift in political culture and administrative practice.
“Governance can work efficiently within four years if we fix the culture: shorten campaign seasons, cut political appointments, institutionalize transition planning, and empower a professional civil service to provide continuity beyond elections”.
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
The Mirage of “More Time”
The CDD-Ghana Fellow also addressed the persistent call for longer presidential terms, warning that such arguments confuse continuity with longevity. He pointed out that many of Africa’s longest-serving leaders have had time, but not transformation.
“Development does not depend on how long a leader stays; it depends on how well institutions work after they are gone”.
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
For Professor Asare, Ghana’s constitutional provision of two four-year terms for presidents strikes the right balance between stability and accountability.
He stressed that two terms are not just enough; they are essential, as they protect democracy, prevent power from personalizing, and allow citizens to renew leadership before it calcifies into entitlement.
He cautioned against tampering with this constitutional framework, noting that the idea of extending term limits under the guise of promoting development often masks self-serving political interests.
“Many of the long-serving leaders in Africa had time but no transformation,” he remarked pointedly, adding that strong institutions—not extended tenures—guarantee sustained development.
The Real Issue: Wasting Governance Time
At the heart of his argument, Professor Asare identified Ghana’s chronic governance inefficiency as the real problem.
He contended that the state loses valuable time to bureaucratic inertia, partisan politics, and misplaced priorities, rather than focusing on disciplined, results-driven administration.
“We waste too much time governing poorly and too little time governing well. A government that cannot deliver in eight years will not perform miracles in twelve. The cure is not to extend mandates but to enforce discipline, efficiency, and accountability.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
He urged political leaders to embrace a performance-oriented governance style anchored on accountability and continuity of state institutions. For him, the civil service, not political appointees, should be the engine of long-term policy execution.
“Transformation is not a function of tenure but of vision and governance. The problem is not how long we let leaders stay—it’s how little they do while they are there. We do not need more years added. We need fewer years wasted.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
Professor Asare’s intervention adds an important voice to the ongoing national debate amidst the work of the Constitutional Review Committee on whether Ghana’s four-year presidential term should be extended to five or six years.
Several political figures have recently called for constitutional review to lengthen presidential terms, citing the need for stability and continuity in policy implementation.
However, critics like Professor Asare argue that the focus should instead be on improving governance structures, reducing politicization of state institutions, and enhancing administrative efficiency.
His remarks also echo broader concerns among civil society leaders about Ghana’s entrenched political patronage culture, where governance often takes a back seat to political maneuvering.
Professor Asare’s essay is a timely reminder of the need to refocus national conversations away from constitutional tinkering and toward institutional reform.
By framing the issue as a question of wasted time rather than insufficient time, Professor Asare challenges both politicians and citizens to rethink the structure of political accountability and the culture of governance.
His argument reinforces a growing consensus among governance experts that Ghana’s democratic maturity will depend not on how long leaders stay in office, but on how effectively they use their time there.
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