According to musician and politician Rex Omar, Ghana’s governance will be better if the term for the presidency is reviewed. He told Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM‘s Showbiz A-Z that the current 4-year term is not enough for any government to make a meaningful impact on the economy. “Because America does elections every four years, we also jump on the bandwagon but the question is, America’s democracy is over 200 years. We just started, okay. So look at our situation,” he said.
Asked if he wanted the tenure to be changed, he answered in the affirmative. “I think it [the four years] is too much. I would have wished we could go six years in one term. Because if you are given six years you use one year or one and half years to set up your government. If four years, five years you are not able to do anything it means you can’t do anything. There is no need for you to go for a second term.
The whole situation is, look at our scenario. After the election, the first year is now that the government is being formed, the appointments and all these things. By the time the government settles to actually start to roll out its programme, you are getting to two years,” he added. Rex Omar is not the first person to have made this statement. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor also made a similar statement in 2022 while speaking at a seminar on reviewing Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
This event was organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), at his residence in Peduase. in the Eastern Region. The former president explained that he came to the realisation after he was invited to Malaysia and got to see how much developmental growth the country had made, even though at the time of independence. it was on par with Ghana.
Rex Omar, a staunch member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also said on Showbiz A-Z that he was ready to hold any political position if given the mandate. “I will [accept a political appointment] because now I think I am of age and I think if I am given any appointment that is within my capacity, I will be able to contribute positively to the development of this country,” he said.
Rex Omar rose to prominence in 1989 with the Aware Pa album which also included the track, Wodofo Ne Hwan? Following this, in 1992 he formed Nakorex together with fellow highlife artistes Nat Brew (now Amandzeba) and Akosua Agyapong, the group’s name being an acronym made up of the first letters of each member’s name.
He later pursued a solo career, released great albums, performed in and outside Ghana, won a number of awards and earned a nomination in Kora Awards in 2004. Rex Omar has been hugely involved in activism for the music industry and has been instrumental in intellectual property administration.
Source: Joy Entertainment
