Ghana’s former president John Mahama won a historic comeback election victory on Sunday after voters appeared to punish the ruling New Patriotic Party over its management of an economic crisis.
NPP candidate Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia on Sunday conceded defeat in the weekend presidential election after failing to shake off widespread frustration over high costs of living.
Defeat in Saturday’s election ended eight years in power for the NPP under President Nana Akufo-Addo, marked by the west African state’s worst economic turmoil in years, high inflation and a debt default.
For Mahama, president from 2012-2017, it was his third attempt to reclaim the nation’s top post after falling short in 2016 and 2020 elections.
“The people of Ghana have spoken, the people have voted for change at this time and we respect it with all humility,” Bawumia said in a press conference flanked by party officials.
In what was a speedy concession with official vote tallies still coming in, Bawumia said he had called National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Mahama to congratulate him.
Blaring horns, waving flags and cheering, Mahama supporters were already celebrating outside the party campaign headquarters in the capital Accra.
Mahama has yet to speak publicly since Bawumia’s concession.
But on his X account, Mahama confirmed he received Bawumia’s congratulatory call over his “emphatic victory”.
Economy dominated
Ghana’s economic woes dominated the election, after the continent’s top gold producer and world’s No. 2 cacao exporter went through a crisis of default and currency devaluation, ending with a $3 billion IMF bailout.
Earlier, NDC spokesman Sammy Gyamfi told reporters the party’s internal review of results showed Mahama won 56.3 percent of the vote against 41.3 percent for Bawumia.
Political parties had agents at polling stations to observe and tally the initial vote counts before the ballots were sent for official collation by the election commission.
Earlier, Commission Deputy Commissioner Bossman Asare told reporters regional results had yet to arrive at the national centre.
The commission had said official results were likely due by Tuesday.
With a history of democratic stability, Ghana’s two main parties, the NPP and NDC, have alternated in power equally since the return to multi-party politics in 1992.
Under the slogan “Break the 8” — a reference to two terms in power — Bawumia had sought to lead the NPP to an unprecedented third term. But he struggled to break away from criticism of Akufo-Addo’s economic record.
Though inflation slowed from more than 50 percent to around 23 percent, and other macro-economic indicators are stabilising, economic struggles were still a clear election issue for many.
That frustration opened the way for a comeback challenge from Mahama.
But during campaigning, the former president also faced criticism from those who remember his government’s own financial problems especially the massive power cuts that marked his time in office.
