Ghana’s ex-president John Mahama wins election, part of latest trend in Africa

Ghana’s vice president and ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia, has conceded defeat in the country’s highly contested presidential election and congratulated his main opponent, former president John Dramani Mahama, for winning another term as the west African country’s leader.
“The people of Ghana have spoken, the people have voted for change at this time and we respect it with all humility,” said Bawumia on Sunday (8 December), as he accepted his defeat after failing to shake off widespread frustration over the struggling economy. “I’ve just called His Excellency John Mahama to congratulate him as president-elect of the Republic of Ghana,” he added. Bawumia’s defeat — 41.3% against 56.3% of the vote for Mahama — ends two terms in power for the governing NPP party under president Nana Akufo-Addo, marked by Ghana’s worst economic crisis in years, involving high inflation and a debt default.
The 65-year-old Mahama, who served as Ghana’s president between 2012 and 2017, promised during his election campaign to “reset” the country on various fronts and tried to appeal to young Ghanaians. The election was held against the backdrop of the west African country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation after the gold and cacao producer went through a crisis of default and currency devaluation, ending with a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. Mahama’s win is widely viewed as following the latest trend of elections across Africa, from South Africa to Botswana to Mauritius where support for long-standing ruling parties has markedly dwindled, and with voters favoring opposition parties against incumbents.