Ghana goes to the polls on 7 December 2024 for the ninth time since the coming into force of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana to elect the one who will succeed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Many analysts and political watchers have talked about how crucial the elections are.
In the words of the national co-ordinator of the Coalition of Election Observers, Albert Arhin, “We have to be careful because the stakes are high.” Even though there are several political parties and movements in the country, only two of them – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) – have won elections under the Fourth Republic.
Becausee Ghana is not new to elections and peaceful ones at that, what makes this general election crucial as claimed by various political analysts and experts? Here are some interesting facts about the 2024 elections.
Two Northerners compete
This is the first time under the Fourth Republic that two sons of the North go head-to-head in a general election. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s presidential candidate, was born on 7 October 1963 in Tamale to the late Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia and Hajia Mariama Bawumia.
He hails from Walewale in the North East Region. Until the regional reorganisation in 2018, the North East was part of the Northern Region, which has now been divided into three: North East, Northern and Savannah.
John Mahama of the NDC was born in Damongo, the then capital of the West Gonja District in the Northern Region. He was elected to Parliament to represent Bole-Bamboi for three consecutive terms.
Indeed, Ya Naa Abukari Mahama II, the Overlord of Dagbon, has on many occasions urged the two political leaders to see themselves as brothers and to run an issues-based campaign, devoid of political acrimony. It is obvious that, regardless of who wins the 2024 election, the title “president” will be going to the North.
Served as vice-presidents
John Evans Atta Mills of blessed memory chose John Mahama to be his running mate for the 2008 election. The NDC won the election that year and John Mahama assumed the role of vice-president on 7 January 2009, assisting the then president, John Evans Atta Mills. Atta Mills however died in July 2012 and Mahama assumed the role of President of the Republic of Ghana.
Unlike John Mahama, who was vice-president for almost four years, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has served as vice-president for two terms under the Akufo-Addo government. He was selected to be Akufo-Addo’s vice-presidential candidate in August 2008 but the NPP lost the election that year.
He was retained as the running mate in 2012 and the party lost again. He became vice president in 2017 after the NPP won the 2016 general election.
First-timer versus fourth-timer
John Mahama contested the 2012 election as the NDC’s presidential candidate and won. However, he was kicked out of office after the 2016 election, in which the then-candidate for the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, won power by a margin of more than one million votes.
Despite what many called a humiliating defeat, John Mahama was back on the ballot paper in 2020, and lost again. This year, he is making another appearance in the 7n December general election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress.
This is the fourth presidential election that Mahama will contest. He will be facing off against Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, a first-time presidential candidate after emerging winner of the NPP presidential primary on 4 November 2023.
The faith factor
It is an undeniable fact that religious persuasion and ethnicity play a critical role in the voting pattern of the electorate in Ghana.
But the 2024 poll is the first under the Fourth Republic to have a Muslim – Bawumia – running for the presidency, and on the ticket of the NPP, going up against a Christian, John Mahama – born and raised Presbyterian but now a member of the Assemblies of God, Ghana by marriage.
Both Bawumia and Mahama are not entirely new to each other’s religion. Bawumia has fondly revealed he was an active member of the Methodist Boys’ Brigade as a young boy. His faith changed after his mother, a Methodist, then known as Susana Mariama, converted to the Islam practised by her husband.
John Mahama is also known to come from a multi-faith family, with Christian and Muslim members.
Running mates and the Education Ministry
Arguably, one of the sectors that will get great attention in the lead-up to the 2024 general election is education.
The Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, a flagship endeavour of the Akufo-Addo-led government, was implemented under the first education minister in the first Akufo-Addo administration, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who is now the running mate to Dr Bawumia.
Interestingly, Dr Opoku Prempeh was immediately preceded in office at the Ministry of Education by John Mahama’s running mate in both 2020 and this year, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
Both Dr Opoku Prempeh and Professor Opoku-Agyemang served for four years at the Ministry of Education. The two running mates are expected to battle it out based on their performances as education ministers.
NPP and NDC in power 16 years each
The NPP and NDC are the two great beneficiaries of elections under the Fourth Republic. Both parties have had 16 years each in power.
Jerry John Rawlings, who assumed office at the start of the Fourth Republic in 1993, after transitioning to democratic rule, governed for eight years and handed over power to John Agyekum Kufuor, who also completed two terms in office.
The NDC returned to power in 2009 under John Evans Atta Mills. Even though he passed away less than six months before the 2012 election, his vice, John Dramani Mahama, replaced him in office and went on to win the 2012 election.
Despite an attempt to stay in power to complete the two consecutive terms to which individuals are entitled constitutionally, Mahama lost the December 2016 election, ushering the NPP into government again, with Nana Akufo-Addo leading the pack.
President Akufo-Addo will end his second term on 7 January 2025. By then, both parties have had 16 years each in power under the Fourth Republic. Whoever wins the 2024 election will put the party a term ahead of the other.
In conclusion, several other factors make this year’s polls different and special, but I consider the issues raised in this article interesting developments worthy of note.
Undeniably, the most important feature is the fact that Ghana has enjoyed peaceful elections through the years. One would hope that the 2024 presidential and parliamentary polls will be no different.
With the NPP hoping to break the eight-year-rule jinx and the NDC striving to regain power, the stage is set for one of the most crucial elections Ghana has ever experienced under the Fourth Republican constitution.
Gemma Appiah
The writer is a news anchor at Asaase Radio
Asaase Broadcasting Company airs on Asaase 99.5 Accra, Asaase 98.5 Kumasi, Asaase 99.7 Tamale, Asaase 100.3 Cape Coast, AsaasePa 107.3 (Accra).
Affiliates: Azay FM 89.1 (Takoradi), Bawku FM 101.5, Bead FM 99.9 (Bimbilla), Mining City Radio 89.5 (Tarkwa), Nyatefe Radio 94.5 (Dzodze), Somuaa FM 89.9 (Gushegu), Stone City 90.7 (Ho) and Wale FM 106.9 (Walewale).
Listen online: asaaseradio.com, Sound Garden and TuneIn.
Follow us:
X: @asaaseradio995, @Asaase985ksi, @Asaase997tamale, @asaase1003, asaasepa1073
Instagram: asaaseradio99.5, asaase985ksi, asaase100.3, asaase99.7tamale, asaasepa107.3
LinkedIn: company/asaaseradio995. TikTok: @asaaseradio99.5, Facebook: asaase99.5, asaase985ksi, Asaase100.3, asaase99.7, AsaasePa107.3.
YouTube: AsaaseXtra.
Join the conversation. Accra: call 020 000 9951/054 888 8995, WhatsApp 020 000 0995. Kumasi: call 059 415 7985 or call/WhatsApp 020 631 5260. Tamale: call/WhatsApp/SMS 053 554 6468. Cape Coast: call/WhatsApp 059 388 2652.
#AsaaseRadio
#AsaasePa
#TheVoiceofOurLand