2012 Ghanaian general election explained

Country:Ghana
Previous Election:2008 Ghanaian presidential election
Previous Year:2008
Election Date:7–8 December 2012
Next Election:2016 Ghanaian general election
Next Year:2016
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Type:presidential
Election Name:Presidential election
Turnout:79.43%
Image1:John Dramani Mahama 2014 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:John Mahama
Party1:National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
Popular Vote1:5,574,761
Percentage1:50.70%
Nominee2:Nana Akufo-Addo
Party2:New Patriotic Party
Popular Vote2:5,248,898
Percentage2:47.74%
President
Before Election:John Mahama
Before Party:National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
After Election:John Mahama
After Party:National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
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Election Name:Parliamentary election
Seats For Election:All 275 seats in Parliament
Majority Seats:138
Leader1:Nana Akufo-Addo
Party1:New Patriotic Party
Last Election1:107
Seats1:122
Percentage1:47.51
Leader2:John Mahama
Party2:National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
Last Election2:116
Seats2:148
Percentage2:46.41
Leader3:Samia Nkrumah
Party3:Convention People's Party
Last Election3:1
Seats3:1
Percentage3:0.73
Leader4:Hassan Ayariga
Party4:PNC
Last Election4:2
Seats4:1
Percentage4:0.66
Leader5:
Party5:Independents
Last Election5:4
Seats5:3
Percentage5:2.50
Speaker
Before Election:Joyce Bamford-Addo
Before Party:Independent politician
After Election:Edward Adjaho
After Party:National Democratic Congress (Ghana)

General elections were held in Ghana on Friday 7 December 2012 to elect a president and members of Parliament in 275 electoral constituencies.[1] Owing to the breakdown of some biometric verification machines, some voters could not vote, and voting was extended to Saturday 8 December 2012.[2] A run-off was scheduled for 28 December 2012 if no presidential candidate received an absolute majority of 50% plus one vote. Competing for presidency were incumbent president John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), his main challenger Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and six other candidates.[3]

Incumbent president John Mahama was declared winner of the presidential contest with 50.7% of the vote, just a few thousand votes over the threshold for avoiding a run-off election. Nana Akufo-Addo received 47.74%.[4] The opposition alleged tampering with results by the Electoral Commission (EC),[5] and filed a petition at the Ghanaian Supreme Court to review the election results. The NPP produced more than 11,000 so-called "pink sheets" to the judges who had to compare them to similar papers from the EC, NDC and possibly other parties. These pink sheets state the results as counted in single polling stations, before aggregating them to any higher level, such as municipality, district and region. The NPP claimed that there were differences between the results as stated immediately after their counting in polling stations, and those which were used in aggregations, and that this can be proven by the pink sheets. In a separate part of the procedure, the EC was challenged to prove that 14,000 expat Ghanaians had voted abroad, and failed to produce any registered voters in foreign countries due to, so EC, the fatal work of a virus in its computer. The election petition led to great changes in the electoral system that helped ensure a high level of transparency in the voting system and collation of the results.

Mahama was elected to a full term less than five months as president having succeeded John Atta Mills, who died suddenly in office in July 2012.

Preparations

Biometric voters registration

The Electoral Commission of Ghana successfully held a biometric system of registration for the electorate from 24 March 2012 to 5 May 2012. The move was aimed to prevent double registration and to eliminate ghost names in the old register.[6] [7] [8]

Electoral demarcations

Controversially, 45 additional constituencies were added to the 230 of the 2008 general election.[9] Voting therefore took place in a total of 275 constituencies and 26002 polling stations.

Monitoring

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) trained election observers and deployed 4000 of them to monitor the elections nationwide.[10] [11]

Observers from ECOWAS Observer Mission led by former Nigerian president, General Olusegun Obasanjo also monitored the elections. The mission noted the technical glitches caused by faulty biometric machines but added that it had not undermined the fairness and transparency of the election.[12]

Pre-election controversy

There have been accusations against the media for not covering the election in a fair manner after a media have projected that the main opposition.[13]

Following the death of incumbent President John Atta Mills amid concerns for the election, leader of the Electoral Commission of Ghana Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said that "the election calendar remains unchanged—it's purely a party matter" and the National Democratic Congress had to decide whom to nominate as its new candidate.[14]

The main talking point following the close of nominations was the disqualification of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, leader of the newly formed National Democratic Party. This was due to errors in the documentation presented to the Electoral Commission.[15]

Presidential candidates

Eight candidates were on the ballot.[3]

PartyCandidate Name Religion Date of Birth Hometown and Region Highest Educational Qualification Institution Present or Last Employer Position Profession Marital Status
Hassan AyarigaMuslim4 September 1972Bawku, Upper East RegionEx. Masters in Governance and Leadership Graduate School of Governance and LeadershipClean Up Ghana Managing DirectorAccountancyMarried
John Dramani MahamaChristian29 November 1958Bole, Northern RegionPost Graduate Degree Government of Ghana President of the Republic of GhanaCommunications/mediaMarried
Papa Kwesi NduomCatholic15 February 1953Elmina, Central RegionPHD First National Savings and Loans Company CEOManagement consultantMarried
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-AddoChristian29 March 1944Kyebi, Eastern RegionBsc. Econ Government of Ghana Minister for Foreign AffairsLegal practitionerMarried
Michael Abu Sakara FosterChristian15 August 1958Mankuna, Northern RegionDoctor of Philosophy UnknownExecutive Director AgronomistMarried
Akwasi Addai OdikeChristian 13 September 1964'O' Level Aduman Secondary SchoolOdike Ventures CEO BusinessmanMarried
Independent Candidate Jacob Osei YeboahChristian28 October 1968 Vital Source LimitedDirector for West Africa Engineering consultant Married
Henry Herbert LarteyChristian5 February 1954 MBA Economics and FinanceUnknown Executive Director Finance, agriculture, and international trade Single

Running mates

The following eight candidates have been approved by their parties and the Electoral Commission of Ghana as running mates of the above listed presidential candidates for the election on 7 December 2012.[16]

PartyCandidate Name Sex Profession
Helen Sanorita Dzatugbe MatreviF Bilingual translator
Kwesi Amissah-ArthurM
Eva LokkoF Engineer
Mahamudu BawumiaM
Nana Akosua FrimpomaaF Social activist
M Agriculturist
Independent Candidate Kelvin Nii TackieM Business executive
John AmekahM Retired educationist

Results

Parliament

Reaction

The non-partisan Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) all declared that the elections were, for the most part, free and fair. Despite this, there were still widespread allegations of voting irregularities, though these were dismissed as unsubstantiated by the electoral commission chairman. As a result of these claims, the New Patriotic Party immediately rejected the results upon their release[17] and its candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, remarked that his party's leaders would be meeting on 11 December to consider their options, one of which is to contest the results by lodging an appeal in court.[18] Violent opposition was however ruled out.

African Union commission chairman Thomas Yayi flew to Ghana to meet with the two men. He was also reported to have congratulated Mahama on his victory, and charged him to preside over an all-inclusive government.[19] Yayi praised the conduct and the participants of the election.

In anticipation of petitions regarding the election, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood has established two public complaints secretariats to swiftly process such concerns.[20]

In a statement after being declared the victor, Mahama gave a reconciliatory message, saying "I wish to welcome my fellow candidates to join me now as partners in the project of nation building and of creating a better Ghana".[21]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Regional Distribution of 275 Constituencies. Electoral Commission of Ghana. 8 December 2012. 13 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130213053408/http://www.ec.gov.gh/page.php?page=484&section=50&typ=1. dead.
  2. News: Ghana election: Voting enters second day. BBC. 8 December 2012. 8 December 2012.
  3. Web site: Profile of 2012 Presidential Candidates. Official website. Electoral Commission of Ghana. 24 October 2012. 31 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141231205804/http://www.ec.gov.gh/page.php?page=495&section=45&typ=1. dead.
  4. News: Ghana election: John Mahama declared winner . BBC News . 10 December 2012.
  5. News: Ghana's Mahama wins election, opposition cries foul . Reuters . 9 December 2012.
  6. Web site: Pre-election in Ghana . Al Jazeera . 7 November 2012.
  7. Web site: Compilation of Biometric Register Begins March 24. General news. Ghana Home Page. 28 March 2012.
  8. Web site: Ghana Think. Ghana Think. 7 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130906205324/http://politics.thinkghana.com/pages/elections/201204/57923.php. 6 September 2013. dead.
  9. Web site: Controversy Over the Creation OF 45 New Constituencies. Modern Ghana. 9 December 2012.
  10. Web site: CODEO to deploy observers for 2012 elections. Ghana Business News. 8 December 2012.
  11. Web site: CODEO Ready To Observe Election 2012. Ghana Web. 8 December 2012.
  12. Web site: Electoral Challenges Has Not Undermined Election Process—Obasanjo Observes. Modern Ghana. 8 December 2012.
  13. News: Ghana: John Mahama declared election winner . 27 January 2013 . London . The Daily Telegraph . 9 December 2012.
  14. Web site: Ghana swears in Mahama as new president . Al Jazeera . 25 July 2012 . 10 December 2012.
  15. Web site: Nana Konadu's Presidential dream crashed . General news . Ghana Home Page. 25 October 2012 . 18 October 2012.
  16. Web site: Profile of 2012 Presidential Candidates. Official website. Electoral Commission of Ghana. 14 November 2012. 31 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141231205804/http://www.ec.gov.gh/page.php?page=495&section=45&typ=1. dead.
  17. News: Ghana election: NPP considers challenge to John Mahama win. 10 December 2012. 10 December 2012. BBC News.
  18. News: Ghana opposition contender might challenge election results. 10 December 2012. 10 December 2012. Bate. Felix. Reuters.
  19. Web site: Update: AU chairman to meet Nana Akufo-Addo, after meeting Mahama . Joy Online . 10 December 2012 . 10 December 2012 . Essel, Issac . https://web.archive.org/web/20121211200752/http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201212/98485.php . 11 December 2012 . dead.
  20. Web site: Ghana’s Judiciary sets up complaint secretariats for post elections petitions . Ghana Business News . 10 December 2012 . 10 December 2012.
  21. Web site: Leave behind era of pettiness, intolerance and negativity – Mahama urges . Ghana Web . 10 December 2012 . 10 December 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121212054339/http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=259041 . 12 December 2012 . dead .