Ghana’s former president John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is a man on a mission but has to contend with outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo’s anointed successor Dr Mahamadu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Saturday’s presidential election.
By Goddy Ikeh
Although Ghana’s economy has of late showed signs of recovery against the backdrop of a huge volume of debt, there are signs that many disenchanted voters may prefer the return of the National Democratic Congress which has been wallowing in the political wilderness since Mahama lost to Akufo-Addo eight years ago.
With what some Ghanaians see as its inclusive policy and the firm democratic credentials of Mr Mahama who as the incumbent in 2016 conceded defeat and ceded power to his arch political rival, the NDC is poised for a return to power.
More than 18 million registered Ghanaians are expected to troop out to cast their votes for a new president and 275 parliamentarians on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
The special voting exercise, which allows eligible voters who may be engaged in election related duties, including election officials, security personnel and media practitioners concluded on Thursday, December 5 with the voting in Eastern and Western regions.
Clash of political titans
For the past 32 years, Ghana’s political history has been shaped by the dominant NDC and NPP to the extent that the presidency has been rotating between them since the return to multi-party politics in the early 1990s.
Although 12 candidates are contesting for the presidency, including independent candidates, the real contest is between ex president Mahama, a 66-year-old former secondary school teacher and parliamentarian and Dr. Bawumia, who worked as an economist with the Bank of Ghana and later served as its deputy governor in 2006.
It is seen as a clash of two titans who had themed their campaigns on radically different issues with Bawumia representing continuity with Akufo-Addo’s economic and social policies which are widely credited for bringing a semblance of stability to the Ghanaian currency the Cedi which has been struggling against the value of international currencies over the years. Mahama and his entourage saw very little to cheer about as far as economic performance under the NPP government is concerned. He argues that runaway inflation while momentarily tamed had not led to monetary and fiscal stability and with unemployment still high, Ghanaians have been left scraping at the base of the barrel.
While Bawumia’s chances will almost certainly depend on how Ghanaians see the performance of the government which he serves as vice president under his immediate boss Akufo-Addo, Mahama seems rejuvenated despite losing the last presidential vote which he claimed was rigged in the incumbent’s favour.
The vice president claims he represents Ghana’s future whch should not look back to the past which he says Mahama symbolises. How far that will convince voters remains to be seen.
Mahama on the other hand has been latching onto the supposed inability of his successor and entourage to for example ‘right the wrongs’ in the informal mining sector known as Galamsey which is steeped in official corruption. The NDC candidate has vowed to ban the activity if he is voted into office.
The economy has been the main theme of discourse in the lead up to Saturday’s election and analysts say it could serve as a double-edge sword which would make or break the two main candidates who have been keen to convince voters that they could fix whatever is wrong with it.
In September, the country’s statistics office said Ghana’s economy had risen by 6.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024.
It said this growth was the fastest rate in five years, helped on its momentum by boosted expansions in several key sectors such as cocoa, gold and oil which were hard hit by spiraling effects of rising debt.
However, to the average Ghanaian consumer, this does not translate into tangible benefits. The prices of basic commodities have been rising before the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2019.
Many believe that Ghana, as the world’s second largest cocoa producer which is also rich in oil and other extractive minerals should be doing better to provide for its people but the question of leadership has been a factor which continues to cast a dark shadow over the country’s stewardship.
Working toward a hitch-free election
With hours to go before the elections, the Electoral Commission of Ghana sensing tensions building has assured Ghanaians that the commission was ready for a free and credible polls and called for the cooperation for all citizens for a successful exercise.
Earlier Bawumia’s NPP and Mahama’s NDC signed a so-called peace pact committing themselves to a violence-free polls.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has warned that the police will not tolerate intimidation and violence at polling stations and threatened stiff punishment for offenders.
Speaking during the National Election Security Taskforce (NESTF) meeting with political parties in Accra, he warned that anyone found guilty of exhibiting aggressive masculinity to cause fear and panic among voters would face immediate arrest and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
The IGP emphasised that the security agencies in the country would “maintain zero tolerance” for any behaviour that disrupted the peace and security of the electoral process.
“We will not tolerate intimidation or violence near polling stations. If you try to intimidate others, we will find you and take you in. We will ensure every Ghanaian feels safe and secure while voting,” he said.
He urged all stakeholders to prioritise the country’s security and refrain from actions that could disturb the peace of the country during the December 7 polls.
The IGP also stressed the importance of transparent reporting by the media to prevent the spread of “misinformation and disinformation,” especially with the elections just around the corner.
Meanwhile, the political atmosphere in Ghana has been impressive with some political parties commending the preparations for the general elections by the Electoral Commission.
For instance, the Director of Research and Elections of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Evans Nimako, praised the security agencies, media, and Electoral Commission (EC) officials for their roles in the special voting on December 2, 2024.
.In the same vein, the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Fifi Kwetey, expressed satisfaction with the assurances given by the security agencies and the EC to ensure peaceful elections on December 7.
Mr Kwetey assured stakeholders that the party would ensure its members and executives adhere to instructions and maintain peace before, during, and after the elections.
The signing of the pact, which has become one of the good practices of Ghana’s electoral process, is a symbolic gesture by the presidential candidates towards delivering a strong, clear, unambiguous and powerful message to party faithful, followers of candidates and the population at large that there is no place for violence in democratic elections.
“No place for guns, cutlasses, knifes, stone throwing or beatings in elections” and ”voting with your heads and not cutting heads” are some of the slogans to discourage violence.
By signing of the document the candidates, and political parties have also undertaken a commitment to uphold the lofty principles of fair play, allowing the electoral process to proceed uninterrupted and adhering to the rule of law in resolving any disputes that may arise from the polls.
In his address at the event in Accra, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns in Africa and Chairman of the AU High-Level Panel on Sudan, urged all the stakeholders to be committed and determined to ensure peaceful elections, non-violence and justice, which was the theme of the peace pact signing ceremony.
According to Chambas, himself a Ghanaian, when heads of state in Africa adopted the Silencing the Guns Initiative, they sought through it to build a continent at peace with itself and with the rest of the world.
“They were also desirous of bequeathing to present and future generations a peaceful continent which would put conflicts behind it to focus on urgent issues of underdevelopment, poverty, inequalities and the pressing and existential challenges of our time.”
Describing the pathway to peaceful elections to credible elections to open, participative, inclusive elections whose results no one can have justifiable cause to reject, Chambas noted that Ghana as a shining example, from where several sister countries have, over the years, picked up many best practices of election management systems, technology, innovation, processes and procedures.
However, Chambas noted that a credible electoral process is a shared responsibility of every stakeholder.
The weight of the burden has now shifted to the Electoral Commission, the Ghana Police Service and supporting security agencies, party and other political activists, the media and the judiciary to pull off an electoral which would be memorable for all the right reasons. A task for which there can be no complacency, Chambas admonished.
Already, the eyes of the world are on Ghana as election observers from the sub-regional, Africa and beyond arrive to witness one of the most fiercely contested polls in this West African country of over 34 million people.
GIK/as/APA