Ghana Elects First Female Vice President as Opposition Wins Election
The NDC’s pair of John Mahama and Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang have won the presidential elections in Ghana.
Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, running mate to John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) delivers a speech during her official presentation on April 24, 2024 in Accra, Ghana. Ghana's presidential election is scheduled for December 2024.
Ghana’s Electoral Commission has officially confirmed John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as Ghana’s next president. Mahama and the NDC won with 56 percent of the vote.
Mahamudu Bawumia, Ghana's vice president and flagbearer for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), came second with 41 percent of the vote. It’s the worst performance at the presidential election for the NPP since the 1996 election, when the party received just under 40 percent of the vote. The 15 percent margin of victory is also the highest since, upsetting pre-election predictions that the results would be close.
Bawumia conceded defeat to Mahama less than 24 hours after voting in the general elections closed on Saturday, saying that internal NPP tallying showed Mahama had won the election decisively.
The NDC's win, now ratified by the electoral commission, continues the pattern of the two major parties replacing each other after two consecutive terms. The result of this year's election comes with an added historic feat: Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is set to become the West African country'sfirst female vice president.Opoku-Agyemang returned as Mahama's running mate following their loss in 2020, and her entry into office continues her trailblazing path. An accomplished academic, the 73-year-old became the first woman to head a public university in Ghana, serving as the vice chancellor of the University of Cape Coast between 2008 and 2012.
As president, Mahama appointed Opoku-Agyemang as minister of education in 2013. She held this position until January 2017, when Mahama lost his re-election bid.
According to preliminary results, the NDC's pair of Mahama and Opoku-Agyemang have swept votes across 12 of the country's 18 regions. Their wins in 10 regions far outpaced the NPP's wins in two regions. NDC supporters celebrated their victory before the announcement of the final results.
Mahama, who has now won re-election in his third attempt, will beunder pressure to deliver on his promises toturn Ghana's economy around. The landslide win partly reflects the loss of confidence in the NPP, as many votersexpressed uncertainty in both Mahama and Bawumia. During his first term, Mahama's government was rocked by a litany of corruption scandals, a suffering economy, and the beginning of severe power outages.
With voters feeling like they had tochoose between two lesser evils, many hope Mahama reclaiming the public mandate will spur him to do much better during his second and final term as president.
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