John Mahama Wins Presidential Poll to Return as Ghana’s President

By Adedapo Adesanya

Former President of Ghana, Mr John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has won a historic comeback election victory on Sunday as voters pushed out the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) over its management of economic crisis in the West African country.

NPP candidate and current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo today conceded defeat in the weekend presidential election after failing to shake off widespread frustration over high costs of living.

Results showed that Mr Mahama won 56.3 per cent of the vote against 41.3 per cent for Bawumia.

Mr Mahama, who ruled as president from 2012-2017, will return to lead the country on his third attempt to reclaim the nation’s top post after falling short in 2016 and 2020 elections.

Ghana’s two main parties, the NPP and NDC, have alternated in power equally since the return to multi-party politics in 1992.

The country’s economic woes dominated the election after the continent’s top gold producer and the world’s second-largest cocoa exporter went through a crisis of default and currency devaluation, ending with a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Mr Mahama on his victory in the December 7 general election.

In a telephone call to Mr Mahama, President Tinubu hoped that Mahama’s ascension to power for the second time would further bring stability to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Nigerian President commended the people of Ghana for their commitment to democracy, which was demonstrated through the peaceful and successful conduct of both the presidential and parliamentary elections.