Accra:Renowned legal practitioner and governance advocate, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, commonly known as Kwaku Azar, has raised concerns regarding the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) suit on presidential term limits, questioning whether it presents a legitimate legal issue for the Supreme Court to address.
According to Ghana Web, Kwaku Azar expressed his skepticism in a Facebook post on October 28, 2026, arguing that the Supreme Court should not be tasked with interpreting the Constitution merely due to differing opinions on its provisions. He emphasized that the NPP must first demonstrate the existence of a genuine constitutional dispute necessitating the court's intervention. Without this, the court might dismiss the case without determining whether the presidential two-term limit applies to both consecutive and non-consecutive terms.
Kwaku Azar cited Article 2(1) of the 1992 Constitution, which allows individuals to invoke the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in cases where an enactment, act, or omission is alleged to be inconsistent with or in contravention of the Constitution. He argued that this provision does not entitle the court to clarify constitutional provisions whenever questions arise in public discussions.
He further questioned what specific law, unconstitutional act, or omission the NPP was contesting, noting that no one had yet attempted to run for a third presidential term. His concern is that the party might be asking the court to resolve a hypothetical future situation without identifying a concrete constitutional dispute requiring judicial intervention.
The legal practitioner referred to past cases, including Bilson v. Attorney-General [1993–94] and Republic v. Special Tribunal; Ex parte Akosah [1980], to illustrate the court's precedent in distinguishing between real legal disputes and requests for opinions on hypothetical situations. He warned that treating every public disagreement over constitutional meaning as a matter for the Supreme Court could transform public debates into court cases.
Kwaku Azar maintained that the court must initially determine whether the NPP’s suit constitutes a genuine constitutional dispute before considering the interpretation sought by the party. He emphasized the importance of the precise pleadings in assessing whether the case merits judicial determination.
The NPP is seeking the Supreme Court's interpretation of specific articles of the 1992 Constitution to clarify whether the presidential two-term limit applies to both consecutive and non-consecutive terms. The case could impact President John Dramani Mahama’s eligibility to contest in the 2028 general election, as he has previously served as president from 2012 to 2017 and returned to office in 2025. However, Kwaku Azar’s objection is not about the NPP’s interpretation being incorrect, but rather about whether the party has established a sufficient legal basis for the court to consider the matter.