Ghana Post Elections

Former President John Dramani Mahama will lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) into the 2020 elections justifying the prediction of pundits that he remains by a petering distance, the party’s most marketed candidate. He runs away with 95.24% of the vote, leaving six others to squabble over less than 5% in a poll that involved about 330,000 NDC voters. His obscure and distant challenger Prof. Joshua Alabi managed only 3,399 representing 1.516% of votes cast while the man said to have mentored Mahama in politics, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin placed third with 2,313 (1.032%). NDC return, Goosie Tanoh, finally got a shot at his most cherished political ambition but polled 2,038 votes (0.909%) to place fourth. Ekwow Spio-Gabrah placed fifth with 1457 votes (0.650%), Sylvester Mensah managed 932 votes (0.415%) with Nurudeen Iddrisu securing 513 votes (0.231) to place sixth and seventh, respectively. To understand the size of his victory, John Mahama won by a larger perc...

The Electoral Commission (EC) wants 12 more months to implement the Representation of the People Amendment Act (ROPAA). The Act seeks to provide an opportunity for Ghanaians living abroad to participate in general elections, was passed by Parliament 12 years ago. But the EC has been unable to see to its implementation. The Commission cites the unavailability of the required resources as its reason for failing to adhere to the law. Not even a suit and an order by the Accra High Court in 2017 for the Commission to begin the process of implementation has caused it to act. In that case, the Presiding judge, Justice Anthony Yeboah, chided the EC for breaching the rights of Ghanaians living abroad by failing to give them an opportunity to vote. He thus condemned the EC’s failure to address challenges preventing Ghanaians living abroad from voting, and specifically asked them to ensure that arrangements are made for such people to vote in the 2020 elections. If the processes...

The Electoral Commission (EC) has called on political parties which are yet to submit their returns and audited accounts for 2017/218 to do so by February 13. EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, said the Commission had noted that the number of audited accounts received to date fell short of the international standards. Mrs Mensa made the appeal on Wednesday in a speech read on her behalf at a press conference in Accra. The press conference was held to outline key decisions taken at the end of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) Meeting. Present at the meeting were representatives of registered political parties, development partners and a number of civil society organizations (CSOs). Also, present were senior officers of the Commission. The deliberations at the meeting centred on the 2018 referendum on the creation of six new regions, the Ayawaso West Wuogon Parliamentary by-election, and the 2019 District Level Elections (DLE) and the referendum on the election of Metropol...