2020 Ghanaian general election

General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2020. Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was re-elected in the first round after securing a majority of the votes.[1] Former President John Dramani Mahama announced that he would contest the results.[2] At the Supreme Court, a petition challenging the result was filed on 30 December, and unanimously dismissed on 4 March 2021 for lack of merit.

2020 Ghanaian general election
7 December 2020
Registered17,027,941
Presidential election
Turnout78.89%
 
Nominee Nana Akufo-Addo John Mahama
Party NPP NDC
Popular vote 6,730,587 6,213,182
Percentage 51.30% 47.36%
President before election

Nana Akufo-Addo
NPP

 Elected President

Nana Akufo-Addo
NPP

Parliamentary election
All 275 seats in the Parliament of Ghana
138 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
NPP Nana Akufo-Addo 50.42 137 -32
NDC John Mahama 46.20 137 +31
Independents – 2.29 1 +1
Speaker before Speaker after
Aaron Mike Oquaye
NPP		 Alban Bagbin
NDC
Maps

The NPP lost its majority in the parliament, winning the same number of seats as the opposition NDC, resulting in a hung parliament with a single independent (Andrew Asiamah Amoako) in the position of kingmaker.[3][4]

Electoral system

The President of Ghana is elected using the two-round system, whilst the 275 members of Parliament are elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.[5][6]

Eligible voters must be Ghanaian citizens who are at least 18 years old, although those declared insane are disenfranchised. Parliamentary candidates must be Ghanaian citizens at least 18 years old, and either be resident in their constituency or have lived there for at least five of the ten years prior to the election.[7]

Campaign

In February 2019, former president John Mahama was confirmed as the candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress.[8] In December, incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo announced that he intended to run for re-election as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate.[9] In June 2020, the NPP chose Akufo-Addo as its presidential candidate and Mahamudu Bawumia as its vice-presidential candidate. Mahama and Akufo-Addo previously ran against each other in both 2012 (with Mahama winning) and 2016 (with Akufo-Addo winning).[10]

All contesting political parties especially the NPP and NDC campaigned vigorously across the country despite fears that political activities such as rallies could increase the rate of spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic in Ghana.[11]

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Following the death of Jerry Rawlings, first president of the Fourth Republic on 12 November 2020,[12] most candidates decided to suspend their campaigns for a week out of respect to his memory.[13][14]

Filing of nomination papers for presidential candidates

At the close of the filing of nomination papers for the presidential election on 9 October 2020, seventeen persons had filed papers to stand for the elections.[15] One of those who filed their papers on 5 October 2020 was the incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo.[16] Each candidate was expected to pay a fee of GH¢100,000 to the Electoral Commission.[17] Akwasi Addai Odike of the United Progressive Party claimed that there was a conspiracy by the NPP and the Electoral Commission to prevent him from filing his nomination papers. This was promptly denied by the chairman of the NPP, Peter Mac Manu.[18] However, the NDC questioned why presidential candidates were filing nomination papers when the Electoral Commission has not finalised the new voter's register to be used for this election.[19] To the surprise of many, Jacob Osei Yeboah disclosed on 6 October, when he was expected to file his nomination papers, that he would instead be the running mate of Asiedu Walker.[20]

Party Presidential Candidate Date
New Patriotic Party Nana Akufo-Addo[21] 7 October 2020
National Democratic Congress John Mahama[22] 7 October 2020
Independent Asiedu Walker[21] 7 October 2020
Ghana Union Movement Christian Kwabena Andrews[21] 7 October 2020
All People's Congress Hassan Ayariga[23] 8 October 2020
Progressive People's Party Brigitte Dzogbenuku[24] 8 October 2020
Ghana Freedom Party Akua Donkor[25] 8 October 2020
National Democratic Party Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings[26][27] 9 October 2020
Convention People's Party Ivor Greenstreet[28] 9 October 2020
Great Consolidated Popular Party Henry Herbert Lartey[28] 9 October 2020
Independent aMarricke Kofi Gane[28] 9 October 2020
Independent aKofi Koranteng[28] 9 October 2020
United Front Party aNana Agyenim Boateng 9 October 2020
United Progressive Party aAkwasi Addai Odike 9 October 2020
People's Action Party aKwasi Busumbru
Liberal Party of Ghana Kofi Akpaloo 9 October 2020
People's National Convention David Apasera

^a – Disqualified by the Electoral Commission of Ghana

Final list of presidential candidates

Following the vetting of their papers, the Electoral Commission announced the final list of presidential candidates on 19 October 2020. Five people had been disqualified from standing for the election as there were various problems with their nomination documents. These include IT issues with their forms and some had been forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service. Those disqualified include Kofi Koranteng and Marricke Kofi Gane who are both Independent. Akwasi Addae Odike of the United Progressive Party, Nana Agyenim Boateng of the United Front Party and Kwasi Busumbru of the People's Action Party were also not eligible.[29][30][31] On 20 October 2020, the candidates balloted for the order in which they will appear on the ballot paper. The incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo will be the first on the list followed by John Mahama, a former president. The full list as on the ballot paper is below.[32][33] Following this, one of the disqualified candidates, Nana Agyenim Boateng, leader of the UFP, took to court to seek redress and prevent the elections from going ahead but the Accra High Court found no grounds to grant this relief.[34]

Party Abbreviation Presidential Candidate Running Mate
New Patriotic Party NPP Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Mahamudu Bawumia[35]
National Democratic Congress NDC John Dramani Mahama Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang[36]
Ghana Union Movement GUM Christian Kwabena Andrews Abu Grant Lukeman[37]
Convention People's Party CPP Ivor Kobina Greenstreet Emmanuel Yaovi Bobobe[38]
Ghana Freedom Party GFP Akua Donkor Ernest Adakabre Frimpong Manso[39]
Great Consolidated Popular Party GCPP Henry Herbert Lartey Andy Bampoe-Sekyi[35]
All People's Congress APC Hassan Ayariga Frank Yaw Kuadey[40]
Liberal Party of Ghana LPG Percival Kofi Akpaloo Margaret Obrine Sarfo[35]
People's National Convention PNC David Asibi Ayindenaba Apasera Divine Ayivor[35]
Progressive People's Party PPP Brigitte Akosua Dzogbenuku Kofi Asamoah-Siaw[41]
National Democratic Party NDP Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings Peter Tennyson Asamoah[35]
Independent Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker Jacob Osei Yeboah[20]

Violence

On 8 December, a day after the elections there were reports of gunshots leading to the arrest of Nii Lante Vanderpuye the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the Odododiodio constituency.[42] The Ghana Police reported 5 deaths and 19 injuries during and after the election.[43]

Parliamentary election

The Electoral Commission announced that following the creation of the Guan District in the Oti Region through the Guan District Local Government (Guan District Assembly) (Establishment) Instrument, 2020, people in this area will only be able to take part in the presidential election. This is because the Guan constituency had not yet been formally created.[44][45]

Opinion polls

Ben Ephson of the Daily Dispatch newspaper conducted polls in the Greater Accra, Central and Western regions. He predicted that Akufo-Addo of the NPP will win the election with 52.6% of the votes while Mahama will obtain 45.7%.[46][47] The Political Science Department of the University of Ghana polled 11,949 respondents and predicted that Akufo-Addo (NPP) will win 51.7% of the vote while Mahama wins 40.4%.[47][48] An iPoll survey of 670 respondents predicted 48.7% of the votes for Mahama and 46.7% for Akufo-Addo implying that the election may go a second round as the winner has to have over 50% of the votes.[49] The Governance Research Bureau predicted that Akufo-Addo will obtain 49.19% of the votes and Mahama 48.27% also implying a second round of elections may be needed.[48]

Results

The total number of registered voters was 17,027,655.[50] The Electoral Commission promised to declare the results of the election within 24 hours of the completion of voting.[51] Some leaders of the NDC expressed their doubts about the commission being able to do so within the 24 hours time frame.[52][53] In the late afternoon of 8 December the Electoral commission communicated that the declaration of the votes in 24 hours which was supposed to take place at 5:00 pm which is exactly 24 hours of the closure of the election had been extended. The Commission in a statement explained that the extension was to ensure that collation of results at the constituency and regional collation centres across the country are accurate.[54] On 9 December, incumbent Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo was declared the winner after securing a majority of the votes needed to avoid a runoff.[55]

President

The declared results exclude the figures for the Techiman South as the results there are being contested. The Electoral Commissioner states that the results of this constituency alone will not change the outcome of the election.[56] On 10 December 2020, the Electoral Commission issued a statement which revised figures for the Presidential election results while admitting that there had been some errors.[57] A research group Research and Grant Institute of Ghana raised concerns about this and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) urged the commission to come out and clarify the errors properly instead of just issuing press releases.[58][59]

CandidateRunning matePartyVotes%
Nana Akufo-AddoMahamudu BawumiaNew Patriotic Party6,730,58751.30
John MahamaJane Naana Opoku-AgyemangNational Democratic Congress6,213,18247.36
Christian Kwabena AndrewsAbu Grant LukemanGhana Union Movement105,5480.80
Ivor GreenstreetEmmanuel BobobeConvention People's Party12,2000.09
David ApaseraDivine AyivorPeople's National Convention10,8820.08
Asiedu WalkerJacob Osei YeboahIndependent9,7040.07
Kofi AkpalooMargaret Obrine SarfoLiberal Party of Ghana7,6830.06
Hassan AyarigaFrank Yaw KuadeyAll People's Congress7,1380.05
Brigitte DzogbenukuKofi Asamoah-SiawProgressive People's Party6,8490.05
Nana Konadu Agyeman RawlingsPeter Tennyson AsamoahNational Democratic Party6,5490.05
Akua DonkorErnest Adakabre Frimpong MansoGhana Freedom Party5,5740.04
Henry Herbert LarteyAndy Bampoe-SekyiGreat Consolidated Popular Party3,5640.03
Total13,119,460100.00
Valid votes13,119,46097.67
Invalid/blank votes313,3972.33
Total votes13,432,857100.00
Registered voters/turnout17,027,94178.89
Source: Ghana Web

By region
Region Akufo-Addo
NPP		 Mahama
NDC		 Andrews
GUM		 Greenstreet
CPP		 Donkor
GFP		 Lartey
GCPP		 Ayariga
APC		 Akpaloo
LPG		 Apasera
PNC		 Dzogbenuku
PPP		 Rawlings
NDP		 Walker
IND
Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes
Ahafo145,584 116,485 1,493 194 49 51 150 113 82 52 135 103
Ashanti1,795,824653,14912,5641,356593304482712444435476952
Bono292,604 203,329 4,514 338 165 132 255 216 209 214 235 374
Bono East153,341213,6942,923380143153409304231220210400
Central 613,804 538,829 15,160 1,117 478 361 468 586 323 1,042 467 804
Eastern 752,061470,9999,819854379211466510278363358642
Greater Accra1,253,179 1,326,489 16,112 1,763 767 231 628 522 401 1,220 685 511
Northern409,963 476,5503,184 1,5103944389001,2811,2094985451,259
North East122,742 112,306 952 292 324 198 376 505 579 205 322 322
Oti103,865 181,021 2,459 265 200 97 195 228 371 240 263 282
Savannah80,605144,2441,409503212185387322344160279435
Upper East170,340335,5023,1008798323599198682,8906851,0171,321
Upper West121,230 238,972 2,240 640 360 354 487 742 2,794 328 406 1,094
Volta100,481 606,508 4,679 705 180 158 406 237 220 314 617 442
Western439,724398,54920,6381,143379223400367305787417508
Western North175,240196,5564,30226111910921017020286117255
Total6,730,5876,213,182105,54812,2005,5743,5647,1387,68310,8826,8496,5499,704
Source: Graphic Online Electoral Commission of Ghana

Parliament
Results of the 2020 Ghanaian parliamentary election by constituency

There has been a long delay in declaring the final result in the parliamentary election. On 14 December, a week after voting was completed, the Electoral Commission announced that it was working on finalising the results for Sene West constituency.[60]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
New Patriotic Party6,651,02850.42137–32
National Democratic Congress6,094,47846.20137+31
Ghana Union Movement60,8400.460New
People's National Convention29,2110.2200
Progressive People's Party24,3340.1800
Convention People's Party11,1050.0800
Liberal Party of Ghana7,5210.060New
National Democratic Party6,4210.0500
Great Consolidated Popular Party1,9760.0100
United Progressive Party1,9340.0100
All People's Congress1,2140.0100
Independents301,9962.291+1
Total13,192,058100.002750
Registered voters/turnout17,027,655–
Source: ghanaweb.com EC

Seats won by region
S/N Region NPP NDC IND Total
1 Ahafo 4 2 – 6
2 Ashanti 42 4 1 47
3 Bono 6 6 – 12
4 Bono East 3 8 – 11
5 Central 10 13 – 23
6 Eastern 25 8 – 33
7 Greater Accra 14 20 – 34
8 Northern 9 9 – 18
9 North East 4 2 – 6
10 Oti 0 8 – 8
11 Savannah 3 4 – 7
12 Upper East 1 14 – 15
13 Upper West 3 8 – 11
14 Volta 1 17 – 18
15 Western 9 8 – 17
16 Western North 3 6 – 9
Total 137 137 1 275
Source: Electoral Commission of Ghana

Petition

On 30 December 2020 the NDC filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the results.[61] On 4 March 2021 the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the petition, stated that it lacked merit.[62][63]

See also

References
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