An Election for the North: The case of Ghana’s Election 2024 – Awal Mohammed Hudu
On Saturday 7th December 2024, Ghana heads to the polls to elect the next President following the end of the 8-year cycle of President Akufo Addo that comes to an end on 6th January 2025. With the leading candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party Dr Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia who happens to be the Vice President and opposition’s National Democratic Congress led by former President John Dramani Mahama, one can confidently say the Presidency heads back to the North.
This is the 9th time the country go to the polls since 1992 when the West African country returned back to civilian rule in the 4th Republic. The late Jerry John Rawlings became the first President of the 4th Republic as he metamorphosised into a democratic rule from his military leadership after 11 years of coup d”etat in 1992. As Rawlings reign ended in 2000, John Agyekum Kuffour took over after his electoral victory against then sitting Vice President John Evans Atta Mills in his second attempt to the Presidency. In 2008 when President Kuffour’s leadership came to an end, Professor John Evans Atta Mills won in a tight contest against current President Nana Akufo Addo in a series of elections from first, second and third round as the election was finally declared on 2nd January 2009 before he was sworn in 5 days later.
Unfortunately on 24th July 2012, Professor John Evans Atta Mills died on the throne and his Vice President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as the President to serve his unexpired term ahead of Election 2012. For the first time ever, Ghana experienced an Election Petition after the 2012 Elections in which John Mahama won as the result was been disputed by 3 petitioners namely Nana Akufo Addo, Mahamadu Bawumia and late Jake Obitsebi Lamptey against John Mahama, Electoral Commission and the National Democratic Congress. A 9-member panel of Supreme Court Judges ruled in a 5-4 decision in favor of the elected President John Mahama after almost 8 months of electoral dispute. The current Vice Dr Bawumia was the star witness of the petitioners which endeared him to a lot of his party faithfuls and had a soared popularity during that period. Coupled with his keynote Economic lectures, addresses, fora on the economy, it made him quite popular through some of the public as he was always seen punching holes in government’s policies.
The next election after 2012 was that of 2016 when the current President Nana Akufo Addo won by almost a margin of a million against a sitting President John Dramani Mahama which was absolutely unprecedented in the history of the country. This marked the end of an 8 year term of the National Democratic Congress led by late Professor Atta Mills and John Mahama in the dawn of a new era. And that brought to another start of a term after the National Democratic Congress have spent 16 years in office with Jerry John Rawlings’ 8 and Prof Mill/John Mahama’s 8.
The covid pandemic roared it’s ugly across the globe during the end of 2019 and continuously spread through 2020. The almost pandemic of a century virtually affected global economy and shut down a lot of countries due to uncomfortable lockdown that the citizens of various countries have to deal with. Despite that, Elections went on in 2020 with President Akufo Addo winning his second term to continue his reign.
The 2024 Elections promised to be a keenly contested one with the leading candidates been Dr Bawumia of the ruling NPP and opposition’s John Mahama all from the Northern part of the country. Despite the presence of Alan Kyeremateng a member of the ruling party who defected to contest on Independent ticket, Kofi Akpaloo of the Liberal Party of Ghana and Nana Kwame Bediako’s New Force alongside 8 other Presidential Candidates on the ballot paper, the two most dominant parties namely the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress in the 4th Republic are still tipped to for glory in the Elections. With New Patriotic Party’s Dr Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia and National Democratic Congress John Dramani Mahama both from the Northern part of the country being the frontliners of Election 2024, it is incumbent on anyone to agree with the sentiment that Ghana’s Presidency is heading back to the North.
By Awal Mohammed Hudu
