L-R: Freddie Blay and Nana Obiri Boahen

A former Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has criticised former National Chairman of the party, Freddie Blay, over his stance of having no objection if the Supreme Court interprets the constitution to allow President Mahama to run for a third term.

Blay, weighing in on the national debate over President John Dramani Mahama’s eligibility to contest the 2028 general elections, welcomed the idea of a possible interpretation of the provision stipulated in the 1992 Constitution.

“The law is in the bosom of the judges,” Blay remarked, adding, “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 said in an interview on Oyerepa FM on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

However, in response to Blay’s remarks during an exclusive GhanaWeb interview on June 17, 2025, Obiri Boahen chided him for hiding behind semantics to praise the president’s work, emphasising that while there is nothing wrong with commending the president, Blay should do so openly.

According to Boahen, the constitutional provision regarding the number of terms a president can serve is explicitly clear and does not require interpretation, emphasising that it is not ambiguous and should be easily understood by anyone.

He further explained that legal interpretations are sought in court only when the wording of a law is unclear or susceptible to misrepresentation.

“We go to court for interpretation when the words are not clear. The constitution says that two terms, which means four years each, making it eight, so, where is the ambiguity? Where is the ambiguity? The law is clear.

“If Freddie Blay wants to praise Mahama, there's nothing wrong, but he should not create the impression that if somebody goes to the Supreme Court and the person files for interpretation [sic]. There's no need for interpretation because there's no ambiguity about this. He should not be hiding behind semantics,” he said.

Obiri Boahen, a legal practitioner, dismissed such claims, asserting that these kinds of debates should not be entertained.

MAG/AE

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