Ghana - December 2024
Opposition secures decisive victory in presidential and parliamentary elections
On 7 December, former President John Dramani Mahama won Ghana’s presidential election with 56.4 per cent of the vote, defeating Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who secured 41.8 per cent. Voter turnout stood at 64.0 per cent, down from 79.0 per cent in 2020. The election also resulted in a strong parliamentary win for Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC), which secured 186 of the 276 seats (67.4 per cent), giving it a two-thirds majority. The country will now have its first female Vice-President, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang. According to Ghana’s Electoral Commission, 12.8 per cent of parliamentary candidates in 2024 were women. Election results were initially delayed as political parties incited their supporters to gather in large numbers at collation centres. While Bawumia conceded on 8 December, reports of vandalism, looting, and property destruction led security forces to disperse crowds with tear gas and pepper spray. Observers from the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations lauded the Electoral Commission for conducting a transparent and credible election.
Sources: Electoral Commission Ghana, African Union, Commonwealth Observer Group, The Africa Report, Africa Confidential, British Broadcasting Corporation, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
