On Saturday, December 7, 2024, the two main political parties in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will make history for the first time when the 6th President under the 4th Republic will be determined by the electorates.
The history of the NDC hinges on the quest of former President John Mahama to become President again after suffering a humiliating defeat in his first term as President and launching a strong comeback to continue to complete the 2nd term as President for eight (8) years.
The NPP on the other hand, will make history as the first political party to win power for three consecutive times, thus governing for a complete eight years and maintaining power for the third term and transition to the same political party with a Muslim President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
From all indications, the NPP stand tall to winning the Presidential election and would be a big miracle for the NDC to win but the Parliamentary, a scenario of 2016 when the NPP won absolute majority by 169 seats against NDC 106 seats or the NPP 137 and NDC 137 seats in 2020 going through a hang Parliament and 1 Independent seat that draped the NPP to the majority in Parliament?
Despite of the fact that the Ghanaian public votes based on the prevailing economic conditions but that will not materialize as far as this election is concerned. Most Ghanaians have witnessed significant advancements, infrastructure, social interventions and direct/indirect benefits that have easily met their expectations and aspirations.
The flagship program, which introduced the free SHS from 2017 to 2024, has brought in over 5.7 million students four years after it started and due to the significant increase in the voting age will cause victory for the NPP.
The poor governance provided by John Mahama as the former President between 2013 and 2015 led to a large electoral defeat in 2016 making him a one-term President as against major policies implemented by the Nana/Bawumia government, is unprecedented in the history of this country.
The NDC has a strong chance of winning the election, particularly with the 8-year cycle favouring them but the challenge is electing the former President, John Mahama as the Flagbearer and Prof. Jane Nana Opoku Agyemang as the running mate, the NDC’s neck is decorated with an albatross as a symbol of defeat.
There will be a slight percentage of votes from the smaller political parties that won’t have any influence on these two political parties given the fact that this is the initial attempt at conducting elections in 276 constituencies across 16 regions.
Joseph Sackey
Researcher/Political Analyst
(Ablekuma South Constituency)
