'God will deal with all those pushing for Mahama's third term; they want to destroy Ghana' - Ken Ashigbey
Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, has cautioned against the growing talk about a third term for President John Mahama, warning that such situations have historically destabilised other countries.
Speaking on Starr FM's “Starr Chat” with Bola Ray, Dr Ashigbey pointed to the experiences of nations that have pursued multiple-term agendas as a cautionary example for Ghana.
"Look at the things that have happened to countries that have tried to do this third term. Please, let's stop it. Let's keep this country going," he said.
He firmly believed that President Mahama has no interest in extending his tenure beyond the current term.
"This is a president who does not have another term. Those of you talking about the third term, the president is not interested in that," he said.
Dr Ashigbey said he had not personally discussed the matter with the president but was confident of his position based on public statements Mahama has made.
He also noted that the Constitution does not also support such a thing.
"I've not had a personal conversation over the third term issue with President Mahama but I'm confident that's the president's position because of a lot of the things he's said, that he's not interested," he said, adding that "the law is clear" on the matter.
He also had a pointed message for those pushing a third-term agenda.
"God will deal with all of those people who want to destroy our country," he said.
Dr Ashigbey made these comments while discussing President Mahama as Ghana's "last hope" to ending illegal mining (galamsey).
While he said President Mahama has a limited time to end the menace but strongly believed the President is best person to make galamsey a thing of the past, he disputed that a third term would be the way to go.
He encouraged the president to use the time left of his second term to make a lasting impact.
He asked the president to speed up his efforts before he "becomes a lame duck" when the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) elects a new leader for the 2028 elections.