The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Sunday, applauded Ghana’s electoral process, highlighting its innovations and political stability as key factors in the smooth conduct of its 2024 presidential election.
Ghana’s former president, John Mahama, won the presidential election on Saturday, December 7, 2024, after his primary opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, admitted defeat.
The Vice President revealed that he had contacted his opponent, Mahama, the National Democratic Congress candidate and former president, to congratulate him, stating in a statement, “The people of Ghana have spoken, and they have voted for change at this time.” We respect this with great humility.”
According to AFP, the Election Commission expects to announce the official results on Tuesday.
The INEC chairman, who monitored the election and spoke in a short video, praised Ghana’s democracy for its political stability, consistent party structures, and voter loyalty.
He also praised the perseverance of the main opposition candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, a former vice president and current president, who contested multiple elections before winning.
“Rarely in Ghana do you see people moving from one party to another with every general election. So, that is important.
“It provides stability. It also provides their supporters (with) stability. So, there are people who have supported political parties for many years. So, whether the party is in power or opposition, they stick to the political party,” he added.
The INEC chairman also remarked that Ghana’s method of managing results at the constituency level, influenced by Nigeria, had increased the efficiency of the electoral process.
Previously, all legislative and presidential results were sent to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission in Accra for announcement.
However, Ghana has adopted a decentralised approach, allowing constituency-level officers to declare parliamentary results locally while only presidential results are conveyed to Accra.
“The second thing for me is the lesson that Ghana also learnt from Nigeria in the area of managing constituency election results. Until the last election in Ghana, all results came to the Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Accra, which is parliamentary and presidential.
“Although Ghana is not a federal system, they learnt from Nigeria, where you have returning officers who announce results for parliamentary elections in the various constituencies around the country. Only the presidential election results come to Accra.
“In Nigeria, this is what we have done, and they borrowed a leave from us, and this is the second time they are implementing that. That is why, as you can see, the declaration of the presidential election result was a lot faster than it used to be in the past,” he explained.
Speaking on his satisfaction with the process, the INEC boss stated, “We are grateful that the election has gone very well. The process and its outcome so far have been commendable, and we continue to support our colleagues in Ghana’s Electoral Commission.”
The defeat in Saturday’s election ends two terms in power for the governing New Patriotic Party under Akufo-Addo, marked by Ghana’s worst economic crisis in years, involving high inflation and a debt default.
