FORMER President John Mahama has been chosen as the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) candidate for the 2024 presidential election, the party announced on Sunday.
Mahama, who led Ghana from 2012 to 2016 and lost to President Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2016 and 2020 elections, won 98.9 percent of the votes cast in the party’s internal elections. More than 355,000 NDC party delegates converged at 401 voting centres across the country for the ballot.
Mahama faced off with former central bank governor Kwabena Duffuor and former Kumasi mayor Kojo Bonsu. But Duffuor withdrew from the race late on Friday, saying the party was not ready to conduct a ‘free and fair election.’ Mahama had already been tipped by most political analysts to win the primary to become the fla
gbearer of the NDC based on his experience and influence in the opposition party.
‘He has been tried and tested and comes with a lot of experience,’ Kwame Asah-Asante, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, said.
‘Mahama is the most marketable candidate in the party now. I don’t see the delegates voting against him. The party stands a better chance of returning to power with Mahama than any other candidate.’
‘Poisoned calabash’
Duffuor, also a former finance minister, has a large base in the Ashanti Region – the stronghold of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). He had reversed his decision earlier on Friday to place a court injunction on the primary race after expressing reservations about discrepancies in the electoral roll. The 80-year-old’s campaign message had centred on hope for Ghanaians. But later the same day he pulled out of the race. ‘I wish to reiterate my commitment to the party and its grassroots. However, my concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see,’ he said in a statement.
‘Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash.’
The upcoming election is expected to be fiercely contested, as Ghana is currently grappling with its worst e
conomic crisis in decades, leading to an increase in the cost of living and a decrease in the value of the cedi currency.
No party has won more than two consecutive terms in Ghana’s history, and the ruling party is expected to announce its candidate later this year.
After the announcement, Mahama thanked
the party for their support and pledged to lead Ghana out of its current difficulties, stating, ‘Let’s keep our collective sights firmly on the supreme objective of the NDC: leadin
g Ghana out of the current abyss in which we find our country.’
The Ghanaian government is seeking a $3bn loan from the IMF to help boost its struggling economy, and it received financing assurances from its official creditors on Friday. The government is optimistic that the loan will be approved soon.
