Nii Moi Thompson: Lowering presidential age to 30 not appealing

Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Senior Advisor to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), has opposed the proposal to lower Ghana’s presidential age limit from 40 to 30 years.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, January 7, Dr. Thompson stressed that maturity is essential for effective leadership, adding that a 30-year-old is generally not fully prepared to assume the presidency.

“No, it doesn’t sound too appealing with the 30 years. It’s one thing to be smart; you also need emotional intelligence. Not that age necessarily brings emotional intelligence. At that point, you are between a man and a boy, not an old man. There’s a process of maturity in leadership,” he said.

Dr. Thompson noted that while some countries, like New Zealand, allow younger leaders to rise through the ranks, Ghana’s political system is more susceptible to populism, which could result in the wrong person assuming the highest office.

“It depends on the political system. In New Zealand and other countries, they usually start at the bottom and by the time they are mid-20s, they are well positioned to lead their parties and by extension the countries.

“We have a system that can easily blend itself to populism; you end up with the wrong person. I disagree,” he added.