President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not stay one day beyond the constitutional mandate given him to administer affairs of the country if the Electoral Commission (EC) is unable to conduct the 2020 presidential and parliament elections due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who stated this, said the President had himself, at various fora, expressed such commitment to end his term in office by midnight of January 6, 2021.

He said the President does not intend to stay one day beyond the constitutional mandate given to him up to the midnight of January 6, 2020 and has strongly urged that whatever must be done in the current circumstances must be done.

Addressing Parliament after presenting the business statement, Kyei–Mensah-Bonsu expressed the belief that the EC would come to brief the House or the Special Budget Committee on their state of preparedness for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

“We hope to God that the situation in the country will not deteriorate or degenerate and we hope to God that we shall witness some improvement in the system,” he said.

The Majority Leader stated this in response to concerns raised by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu who told Parliament that the EC must be summoned to appear and apprise the legislative body on their roadmap and level of preparedness to conduct the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.

He said that the Constitution provided that presidential and parliamentary elections should be held this year even as the country struggled with COVID-19.

Responding, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said whatever the challenge the EC might encounter, the President had already assured Ghanaians of his readiness not to stay beyond his constitutional mandate.