Ghana leader wants longer terms

John Kufuor steps down on Wednesday after the maximum two terms in office

Ghana's outgoing leader John Kufuor has called for presidential terms to be extended from four years to five.

In his last state of the nation address to parliament, President Kufuor said the extra year would give leaders time to complete vital industrial projects.

He also called for limits to electoral commission officials' time in office.

Mr Kufuor, who steps down on Wednesday, congratulated opposition leader John Atta Mills for beating Nana Akufo-Addo in the knife-edge presidential poll.

Mr Atta Mills is due to be sworn in as Ghana's new president on Wednesday.

In Accra on Monday, the outgoing president praised the commission for its professionalism during December's hotly-contested elections.

But he added: "There is no doubt however that it is risky to have a referee that enjoys permanent security of tenure."

Limiting commission officials' time in office would "underpin sustained public trust and also make it accountable to the people", he added.

'Better impact'

The current electoral commissioner, Kwado Afari-Gyan, was appointed in July 1993, the year after the body was set up.

John Atta Mills has pledged to be a "president for all"

Mr Kufuor's governing New Patriotic Party - whose candidate Mr Akufo-Addo lost the election by a wafer-thin margin - has criticised the commission for dismissing its concerns about alleged irregularities in the vote.

The outgoing president also said extending the presidential term by one year would allow a new leader time to settle in and produce better results.

"The tenure of four years for the president of a struggling developing nation with weak institutions may be too short," he said.

He added: "Perhaps a five-year term renewable once will create the needed space for making a better impact."

Mr Kufuor said that although he would have liked to have been succeeded by a member of his own party, as a democrat he accepted the verdict of the people of Ghana.

National Democratic Congress candidate Mr Atta Mills, 64, who had lost two previous elections to Mr Kufuor, has pledged to be "a president for all".

He was declared the winner on Saturday, after a cliff-hanger election which had remained inconclusive even after a run-off.

The result was finally settled by a re-run of voting in the rural constituency of Tain, which was boycotted by the NPP.

Despite allegations of multiple voting and intimidation from both sides, electoral officials found no evidence of foul play and the UN praised Ghana's poll as a democratic example to others.

The EU observer mission on Monday said Ghana's electoral commission had "worked competently and transparently" on the polls.

Mr Akufo-Addo, 64, had won the first round, but not by enough to avoid the run-off.