Former Ghanaian President Nominated to Contest in 2020

Asari Ndem, March 14, 2019

Ghana’s main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress, has nominated ex President John Mahama to contest in the country’s presidential election scheduled for next year. This will be the third consecutive time Mahama and President Nana Akufo-Addo meet at the polls.

Last month, the Electoral Commission of Ghana announced that the NDC chose 60-year-old Mahama, out of seven candidates, to be its flag-bearer as they believe him to be the most qualified candidate for the position.

Former President John Mahama took office in July 2012 and was the president of Ghana until January 2017 following his defeat at the polls. Due to his administration’s failure to solve an energy crisis that resulted in routine power-cuts, the country voted for President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016.

According to reports, “Mr Mahama, who succeeded his deceased predecessor in 2012 and defeated Akufo-Addo in an election later that year, accepted defeat immediately in 2016, maintaining Ghana’s record of fiercely contested but peaceful elections.”

Reuters reported: “The National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) ticket designated Mahama its candidate for the December 2020 vote at a party congress over the weekend,” announced its director of elections, Elvis Ankrah.

In 2015, Ghana was forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund for financial assistance following a currency crisis which increased the rate of inflation to 20 percent, causing the government’s debt obligations to soar.

Since 1992, the country has held hotly contested elections where a switch between the two most popular parties, the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, occurs.

“Mr. Akufo-Addo, who is expected to stand for re-election as the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), campaigned in 2016 on promises to cut deficits following overspending by Mr Mahama’s government that blew a 1.6 billion dollars hole in the budget.”

Since winning the election, President Akufo-Addo has gone on to oversee economic growth and restore the people’s faith in the government.

Ghana is currently the world’s second largest producer of cocoa and gold.

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