As the people of Ghana prepare to visit the polls on the 7th of December this year for the West African nation’s general elections, Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has formally announced its decision to go with incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo as its presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, pitting him against former President John Dramani Mahama in a head-to-head battle for the third time.
The party made its official candidacy announcement in the capital, Accra, on Saturday, revealing that President Nana Akufo-Addo will run on its ticket alongside Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia, who will serve as his running mate.
Addressing a National Council meeting after his confirmation, Akufo-Addo stated that the elections will be about leadership in Ghana, looking at what his government has offered Ghanaians over the past three and a half years in comparison to what the opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its candidate, John Mahama, has offered during their time in office.
“The December 2020 presidential race represents, probably the clearest of choices ever for the Ghanaian people to make. And why do I say so? It is because 2020 is between the current President and the President who was voted out in the last contest,” the President stated.
Shared History
This is not the first time both candidates are running for president. Akufo-Addo who will be contesting for the country’s top seat for the fourth four consecutive since 2008, lost his first bid to former president John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC. He lost again in 2012 to the current opposition candidate, Mahama, who won the presidential election that year with 50.7% of the votes. Things however changed for Akufo-Addo and the NPP when he narrowly unseated Mahama in the last elections of 2016 with 53.8% of the total votes cast.
Over the last few years, each election cycle has introduced Ghana to a new president, a remarkable feat for a country in a region rife with political instability and a strong desire to hold on to power by any means possible. The December polls will see these two leaders who have both spent time in office, go head-to-head once more.
