ACCRA – Ghana’s vice president and ruling party candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat Sunday to opposition candidate and former President John Dramani Mahama in the West African nation’s tightly contested presidential election.
Ahead of the official announcement, Bawumia told reporters that he respects the decision of Ghanaians to vote for change. “I’ve just called His Excellency John Mahama to congratulate him as president-elect of the Republic of Ghana,” he said at his residence in the capital, Accra.
Mahama acknowledged the call from the ruling party candidate in a post on the X platform, describing his victory as “emphatic.”
Celebrations broke out among the supporters of the opposition candidate in parts of the country, including the capital city.
The election was held against the backdrop of the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and was seen as a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups.
Bawumia was running as the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party, or NPP, which has struggled to resolve the economic crisis under outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Mahama’s win is viewed as following the latest trend of elections around the world, favoring opposition parties against incumbents, from the United States to European countries — such as Britain and France — as well as South Africa.
Like in most other elections where the incumbent lost, the vote in Ghana was about the people making their disaffection known against a government that has lost goodwill, said Seidu Alidu, head of the department of political science at Ghana’s University of Legon.
“I think it has to do with the economy, which is largely a bread and butter issue for every Ghanaian,” said Alidu. “When the people elect you, they require you to do certain things for them. But it was also about the style of governance (because) even in other countries facing economic challenges, governments were being honest with the people, telling them what the reality is, and the steps they have taken to manage it,” he added.
Mahama, 65, was previously president of Ghana between July 2012 and January 2017.
During his campaign, Mahama promised to “reset” the country on various fronts and tried to appeal to young Ghanaians who saw the vote as a way out of the country’s economic crisis.
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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria
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