Ghana election: Who are the candidates and what’s at stake?

Ghana is because of get a brand new president after December’s election. The present vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and a former head of state, John Mahama, are the 2 main candidates in rivalry to win the ballot.

Nana Akufo-Addo, first elected in 2016, is coming to the tip of his second and closing four-year time period.

On Saturday 7 December, the almost 18.8 million Ghanaians registered to vote will have the ability to participate within the nation’s ninth basic election since multiparty politics was reintroduced within the early Nineteen Nineties.

In the final 30 years, the nation has had a sequence of carefully fought however peaceable polls. Ghana has a repute for the orderly switch of energy between administrations.

On polling day, two elections will probably be happening concurrently:

• Presidential – there are 12 candidates
• Parliamentary – voters in 275 constituencies throughout the nation will probably be selecting their MP.

Although 12 hopefuls are vying for the presidency, solely two have a sensible probability of successful. Since the return of multiparty politics in 1992 solely candidates from both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have gained.

The two front-runners are:

• Mahamudu Bawumia (NPP) – Having served as Akufo-Addo’s vice-president for eight years, the 61-year-old Oxford-educated economist may make historical past because the nation’s first Muslim president. The former deputy governor of the central financial institution gained a repute for his monetary know-how. But that may be his undoing as he has confronted heavy criticism after Ghana plummeted into its most extreme financial disaster in years below his watch.
• John Mahama (NDC) – Winning this poll would signify a comeback for the 65-year-old as he already served as president for four-and-a-half years from 2012 however then misplaced the 2016 election. In workplace, he was nicknamed “Mr Dumsor”, which is a reference to the facility cuts that plagued his time in workplace. Amid the present robust financial system, Mahama has pledged an “urgent reset” for the nation that wants an skilled chief on the helm.

Among different candidates garnering consideration are:

• Nana Kwame Bediako – The businessman, also called “Cheddar”, doesn’t have a political background however has made numerous affect on social media and attracted younger supporters.
• Alan Kyerematen – The former minister, nicknamed “Alan Cash”, left the NPP final 12 months after complaining that the presidential primaries have been biased towards him. He may draw some NPP assist within the celebration’s heartland within the Ashanti area.

Economic questions have topped individuals’s considerations within the build-up to the election, particularly the rising value of dwelling. At the tip of 2022, the annual inflation charge hit 54%. It has come down since then however costs are nonetheless rising steeply.

The World Bank mentioned as many as 850,000 Ghanaians could have been pushed into poverty in 2022 due to the rising costs of products and providers. These “new poor” joined the six million who have been already dwelling in poverty.

By the tip of 2022, authorities funds had been depleted with little left to assist the nation’s finances, forcing Ghana to go to the International Monetary Fund for assist.

Unemployment amongst younger individuals and an exodus of Ghanaians in search of higher alternatives elsewhere has additionally been a characteristic of latest years.

The NDC has decried this as an “abysmal performance” and has demanded a reset.

The governing NPP says it has constructed a resilient financial system that’s on the “cusp of… transformation” so it’s not the time to vary.

Concerns over the environmental affect of unlawful gold mining – identified within the nation as “galamsey” – have turn into one other main talking-point. A sequence of demonstrations over the observe, which has led to the air pollution of a number of main rivers with harmful chemical substances, have been held within the build-up to the vote.

Both main events agree that the problem must be addressed, however whereas the NPP says it will be important for the financial system to permit some small-scale miners to proceed their work, the NDC is looking for a lot harder regulation and the restriction of latest licences.

To win the presidential election within the first spherical, a candidate should get greater than half of the votes solid. If no-one passes that threshold then a second spherical run-off that includes the 2 candidates with the biggest variety of votes will happen by the tip of December.

The parliamentary election is run on a first-past-the-post foundation with the winner being the candidate in every constituency with the biggest share of votes, even when that’s lower than 50%.

On election day, every voter can flip as much as their assigned polling station with their voter’s ID card, the place they may have their fingerprints electronically checked and are then issued with the 2 poll papers. Each one that has solid their poll then has their little finger marked with indelible ink to stop voting a second time.

Since 1992, Ghana has had a number of tight presidential elections.

In 2008, lower than half a share level separated the 2 candidates within the second spherical.

In the election 4 years later, the winner, Mahama, crept over the 50% threshold within the first spherical by lower than 80,000 votes.

That outcome triggered a authorized grievance from the NPP, which argued that tally sheets at sure polling stations had been tampered with. The problem was unsuccessful, nevertheless it did lead the electoral fee to introduce new measures to make sure larger transparency.

Election observers have ceaselessly praised the way in which the vote has been run.

Going by earlier elections, the electoral fee is prone to announce the outcome by 10 December.

Additional reporting by Favour Nunoo and Komla Adom in Accra