1979 Ghanaian general election explained

Country:

Ghana

Module:

Embed: yes Election Name: Presidential election Type: presidential Previous Election: 1960 Ghanaian presidential election Previous Year: 1960 Next Election: 1992 Ghanaian presidential election Next Year: 1992 Election Date: 18 June 1979 (first round) 9 July 1979 (second round) Image1: Hilla Limann (cropped).jpg Nominee1: Hilla Limann Party1: PNP Popular Vote1: 1,118,305 Percentage1: 61.98% Nominee2: Victor Owusu Party2: PFP Popular Vote2: 686,097 Percentage2: 38.02% Color2: 132F7A President Before Election: Jerry John Rawlings Before Party: Military Posttitle: President-elect After Election: Hilla Limann After Party: PNP Module: Election Name: Parliamentary election Embed: yes Previous Election: 1969 Next Election: 1992 Election Date: 18 June 1979 Majority Seats: 71 Seats For Election: All 140 seats in Parliament Noleader: yes First Election: yes Party1: People's National Party Percentage1: 36.44 Seats1: 71 Party2: Popular Front Party Percentage2: 30.60 Color2: 132F7A Seats2: 42 Party3: United National Convention Percentage3: 17.51 Seats3: 13 Party4: Action Congress Party Color4: 2E8B57 Percentage4: 8.84 Seats4: 10 Party5: Social Democratic Front Percentage5: 3.90 Seats5: 3 Party6: Independents Percentage6: 0.91 Seats6: 1

General elections were held in Ghana on 18 June 1979, with a second round of the presidential election on 9 July 1979. The presidential election resulted in victory for Hilla Limann of the People's National Party, who received 62% of the votes in the run-off,^[1] whilst his PNP won 71 of the 140 seats in Parliament. According to one scholar, the elections were conducted "in as free and fair a manner as might be considered humanly possible under local conditions" and the losing candidates publicly accepted defeat.^[2] Around 5,070,000 people were registered to vote.^[1]

The Electoral Commissioner during the elections was Joseph Kingsley-Nyinah, an Appeal Court Judge who was appointed by the Supreme Military Council (SMC).^[3] Although the SMC was overthrown on 4 June 1979, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council military government which replaced it allowed the elections to proceed just two weeks later.

Results

Parliament

Seats won by region

Party	Central	Accra	Eastern	Ashanti	Brong-Ahafo	Volta	North	Upper	Western	Total
People's National Party	8	6	11	2	2	11	7	15	9	71
Popular Front Party	0	1	6	19	10	0	4	1	1	42
United National Convention	0	3	4	1	0	5	0	0	0	13
Action Congress Party	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	10
Social Democratic Front	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3
Independents	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total	15	10	21	22	13	16	14	16	13	140
align=left colspan=11	Source: Jeffries

See also

• List of MPs elected in the 1979 Ghanaian parliamentary election

Notes and References

1. [Dieter Nohlen]
2. Jeffries. Richard. The Ghanaian Elections of 1979. African Affairs. July 1980. 79. 3. 401. 722047.
3. Web site: Profile of Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, the Next NPP Flagbearer . VibeGhana . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140429201859/http://vibeghana.com/2014/04/25/profile-of-alan-john-kwadwo-kyerematen-the-next-npp-flagbearer/ . 29 April 2014 . 25 April 2014 . dead.