Ghana’s Electoral Commission, EC, on Monday, formally declared ex-President and candidate of the National Demo ratic Congress, NDC, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, winner of the December 7, 2024 presidential vote.
Accepting the historic mandate, President-elect Mahama pledged “a life of limitless opportunity” for all Ghanaians.
With the result, voters punished the ruling NPP party for Ghana’s struggling economy and the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
The Electoral Commission said Mahama, 65, who ruled the gold rich country between 2012 and 2017, got 6.3 million votes or 56.5% of the total votes cast, while his opponent and incumbent Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who conceded defeat on Sunday, got 41%, or 4.6 million votes.
The Electoral Commissioner, Ms. Jean Mensa, said vote-counting continued in nine constituencies but would not change the final result.
Turnout in the election was just over 60%.
During his campaign, Mahama had promised to “reset” the country on various fronts. His campaign prioritized the economy and largely appealed to young Ghanaians who saw the vote as a way of taking the country out of the current economic crisis.
In his victory speech on Monday, President-elect Mahama said Ghana must be able to meet the basic needs of its people including affordable housing, health care, food, clean water, safe work and fair wages.
“We want a Ghana that considers the well-being of all her citizens and affords them each the ability to live a life of dignity, a life of limitless opportunity,” he said. “This country, this land, is not for one person or for one family or for one tribe or ethnic group.”
