Ghana’s Election

On Wednesdays, December 12th, Ghanaians are voting for a new President and 275 members of parliament. For a country surrounded by poorly functioning election processes, Ghana is a successful democratic country if we are to look at their past election. In 1992, the country transitioned to a multi-party system and has since had 6 successful elections.

The Washington Post outlined the 9 important things to look for in the upcoming election, which, for an observer, I found helpful:

1. The contenders for the top spot in the 2016 election are: John Mahama who is running of the national Democratic Congress (NDC) and Nana Akufo-Addo who is running for the New Patriotic art (NPP), the opposition. The two are said to go head-to-head.
2. It is unclear who will win from either the NPP or the NDC, however, Akufo-Addo seems to have the higher chance when looking at the countries want for democratic turnovers (and the NDC having held power for two terms), a tough economic situation, and scandals involving high-profile corruption.
3. While in 2011, Ghana was a hub for foreign investment for its fresh oil discoveries, it has since been on a downward path due to economic stagnation and public debt. In addition, Ghana’s currency has lost its value severely. In a recent survey conducted by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (DCC-Ghana), the results showed an overwhelming sign that Ghanaians believe the country is going in the wrong direction.
4. Incumbent president, Mahama has been stressing his comitment to public infustructure, with the contruction of 200 new senior high chools.In addition, the president has been working on new infrastruture projects.
5. With recent results showing unemployment rate at 48%, the election conversation has been focused on employment. The two sides will battle for the better plan to make these goals a reality.
6. The 2016 election will be the first one held under a new head of Ghana’s electoral commission. The chair, Charlotte Osei, is a trained lawyer and is very qualified for the job.  However, she is inexperienced in electoral administration, which has raised concern in this important election.
7. A recent ruling in court has pushed to increase the confidence in electoral result and limit fraud. The new law requires that election officials post results i public view at each station and that every officer and political party candidate must sign the Results Collation Form, which aggregates results from multiple polling station.
8. Civil societies will play a crucial role in delivering a fair and transparent election. The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) in Ghana is a consortium of 34-civil society groups and will deploy 7,000 election observers to sporadic polling stations.
9. In the parliamentary elections, a total of 1144 candidates will be voted for. Unsurprisingly, only 12% are women.