poli 444 electoral politics and democracy in ghana•the pnc nominated edward mahama for the fourth...

College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

POLI 444 ELECTORAL POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY IN

GHANA

SESSION 11 : THE 2008 AND 2012 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Lecturer: Mr. Alex K. D. Frempong Contact Information: [email protected] /[email protected]

Session Overview

• We saw in the previous session how the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wrestled power from the National Democratic Congress NDC) in 2000 resulting in the first alternation in power and how the NPP retained it in 2004. In this Session 11, we shall study two elections in which power shifted back to the NDC. In 2008, the NDC won back power by the narrowest margin in the country’s history and produced a second alternation in power. Thus Ghana passed the two-turnover test in 2008. In 2012, the NDC retained power but the NPP disputed the results leading to eight months election petition. We explore all these intriguing dimensions of the 2008 and 2012 elections

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 2

SESSION OUTLINE

The key topics to be covered in this session are:

•Topic 1: THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL AND

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

•Topic 2: THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL AND

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

2/24/2019 Lecturer Mr. Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 3

READING MATERIALS

• Frempong, A.K. D (2012) Electoral Politics in Ghana’s Fourth Republic in the Context of Post-Cold War Africa, Accra: Yames Press Ltd

• Frempong, A. K. D (2017) Elections in Ghana (1951-2016), Tema: Digibooks Ghana Ltd.

• Gyimah-Boadi, E. (2009) “Another Step Forward for Ghana”,

Journal of Democracy, Vol. 20, No.2, April, pp. 138-152

Lecturer: Mr. Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 4 2/24/2019

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the session, students should be able to:

•Understand clearly the circumstances leading to the fift

h and sixth elections of the Fourth Republic

•Explain the contexts, contestants, issues, outcomes and

post-election politics of Elections 2008 and 2012

•Appreciate the implications those elections had for the

future


THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Topic 1:

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr. Alex K. D. frempong Slide 6

BACKGROUND TO THE 2008 ELECTIONS

With Kufuor’s re-election in 2004, he was not eligible to contest in 2008 and the process of finding his successor in the NPP created serious problems for the party and eventually led to its defeat in 2008.

•Unlike the NDC in 2000 when Rawlings virtually single-handedly nominated Mills as the party’s presidential candidate, as many as 17 aspirant emerged to contest the NPP’s flagbearer race in 2007 ahead of Election 2008

•The presidential aspirants included two-term Vice President Aliu Mahama, Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo, Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten, six other cabinet ministers, three sacked ministers, an ex-presidential press secretary, an ambassador, two bankers and a medical officer

•In the end Nana Akufo-Addo was nominated after an acrimonious campaign and a show of opulence/lavishness which made the healing of post-primary wounds within the NPP very difficult

•Also, the NPP’s parliamentary primaries were acrimonious and sometimes violent

•In the end the flagbearer had to settle on a party non-member as running mate

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr. Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 7

BACKGROUND TO THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (CONT’D)

• There were interesting developments in the major opposition NDC as well

• In December 2005, it held a congress in which almost all the anti-Rawlings national executive members led by Obed Asamoah were defeated and after which they broke away to form a new party, the Democratic Freedom party (DFP)

• The new executive worked hard to unite the party and at another congress in December 2006, Mills was nominated for the third time as the party’s presidential candidate, this time, against three other contestants

• Mills third nomination was likely to attract sympathy votes but there were issues with his health

• The NDC also conducted relatively more peaceful parliamentary primaries throughout the country

• In the end Mills settled on the affable three-term NDC MP for Bole John D. Mahama as his running mate


THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: THE CONTESTING PARTIES/CANDIDATES

Eight presidential tickets emerged for the 2008 presidential contest, seven party contestants and an independent, for the first time in the Fourth Republic:

•The ruling NPP had Nana Akufo-Addo as the presidential candidate and Mahamadu Bawumia, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana as his running mate

•The NDC had Mills as its presidential candidate for the third time and John Mahama, MP for Bole as his vice presidential candidate

•The PNC nominated Edward Mahama for the fourth time with Petra Amegashie as the running mate

•The CPP this time had Papa Kwesi Nduom, CPP MP for Komenda-E-E Abrem and resigned minister from the Kufuor government, as its presidential candidate and Abu Sakara Forster as his running mate


THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: THE CONTESTING PARTIES/CANADIDATES (CONT’D)

• The DPP contesting the presidency for the first time on its own had its founder T. N. Ward-Brew for president and Peter Dwamena for vice president

• The DFP which broke away from the NDC chose Emmanuel Ansah Antwi as the presidential candidate and a lady running mate Patience Amesimeku

• Another new party, Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD) a chip off the NPP had its founder, Kwabena Adjei as presidential candidate and another lady running mate, Rosemond Abraham.

• Independent presidential candidate Kwasi Amoafo Yeboah contested with Yaw Gono as running mate

• Apart from having the highest number of eight among the five presidential contests in the Fourth Republic, for the first time there were three female running mates, after two previous ones with none. The full list of presidential tickets was as follows



THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: THE PRESIDENTIAL TICKETS

PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RUNNING MATE

NPP NANA AKUFO-ADDO MAHAMADU BAWUMIA

NDC JOHN EVANS ATTA MILLS JOHN D. MAHAMA

PNC EDWARD N. MAHAMA PETRA AMEGASHIE

CPP PAPA KWESI NDUOM ABU SAKARA FOSTER

DPP T. N. WARD-BREW PETER DWAMENA

DFP EMMANUEL ANSAH ANTWI PATIENCE AMESIMEKU

RPD KWABENA ADJEI ROSEMOND ABRAHAM

IND KWASI AMOAFO YEBOAH YAW GONU

THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: FIRST ROUND OUTCOME

The presidential election was inconclusive in the first round with many intriguing aspects:

•Overall Akufo-Addo (NPP) led with 49.1%, followed by Mills (NDC)-47.9%, with an aggregate 3.0% for the other six parties

•Akufo-Addo (NPP) won majority in four regions (Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern & Western) down from six in 2004. Indeed his vote dropped in all the six regions the NPP previously held. It was the first time the NPP national vote had dropped in a regular presidential election. The margin between Akufo-Addo and Mills was 1.2% compared to 3.7% between Kufuor and Mills in 2000

•For Mills, this was his best performance in his three attempts. He led in sixth regions, the usual four (Northern, Upper East, Upper West & Volta) and two others (Central & Greater Accra) for the first time. Mills vote improved in all the regions except Ashanti where it dipped by less than 1%

•Though the aggregate 3% for the six other contestants was less than the 7.3% in 2000, it still turned the election into a run-off


THE 2008 PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST

Nine political parties were in the parliamentary contest with unequal strengths as usual:

•The ruling NPP contested 229 of the 230 seats again deferring the Ellembelle seat to First Deputy Speaker Frederick Blay

•The NDC also contested 229 after one of its candidates in Ashanti was disqualified for electoral malpractices

•Three other parties contested more than 100 seats: CPP-205, PNC-127 & DFP-107

•The four others contested less than 50 seats: DPP-48, RPD-11, New Vision Party (NVP)-5 & GCPP-3

•There were 96 independent contestants several of them, especially in Ashanti and Eastern, NPP protesters


The parliamentary outcome was interesting in its own way:

•Overall: NDC-116, NPP-107, PNC-2, CPP-1 and 4 independents

•The opposition NDC’s116 parliamentary majority was up by 22 from 94 in 2004. It won seats in all 10 regions and controlled seven of them (up from four) with the exception of Ashanti, Brong Ahafo & Eastern

•The NPP’s 107 was a dip of 21 from 128 in 2004 with a majority in three regions Ashanti, Brong Ahafo & Eastern) down from six. While like 2004, it won seats in all 10 regions, the number of seats dropped in 2008 in six regions (Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern & Western), did not change in Brong Ahafo & Volta but improved only in Upper East & Upper West

2/24/2019 Lecturers: Mr. Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 14

THE 2008 PARLIAMENTARY RESULTS

THE 2008 PARLIAMENTARY RESULTS (CONT’D)

• The PNC won two: it retained only one (Sissala West) of its four seats but captured another (Builsa South)

• The CPP lost all its three seats but captured one (Jomoro)

• Four independents were elected, all NPP protesters: J. Osei-Owusu (Bekwai), Ofori-Kuragu (Bosome-Freho), Seth Adjei-Baah (Nkawkaw) & Saani Iddi (Wulensi)

• Twenty (20) of the 230 MPs were women (NPP-14, NDC-5 & CPP-1), down from 25 in 2004 and across eight regions instead of 10 in 2004

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 15

Going into the 28th December 2008 run-off, Mills (NDC) had some advantages over the Akufo-Addo (NPP)

•The NDC controlled more regions at both the presidential and parliamentary level

•The NDC had a parliamentary majority of 116 to NPP’s 107

•Though the NPP led the first round, it was by a slim 1.2% and its apparent invincibility broken

•Unlike 2000 where all the third parties declared their support for the party leading in the first round, this time they were divided with some undecided

•The NPP in its desperation had taken some knee-jerk measures; 17% reduction in fuel prices, release of drivers convicted for various motor offences, and a nationwide tour of contrition, begging for forgiveness


THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF

The outcome of the run-off was far more intriguing than in 2000:

•On the 28th December run-off day voting took place in 229 constituencies but not in the Tain Constituency which had some administrative problems

•After counting the votes from the 229 constituencies, Mills led narrowly. But there was a mathematical chance that the Tain vote could make a difference.

•Against this background there was the 3rd January 2009 Tain tie-breaker and in the end Mills (NDC) prevailed by 50.2%-49.8%, a hair-breadth margin of 0.4%

•Mills won a majority in eight regions, leaving Akufo-Addo with only two (Ashanti & Eastern). Indeed two regions (Brong Ahafo & Western) Akufo-Addo narrowly held in the first round swung to Mills

•With this result Mills won in his third attempt under intriguing circumstances

•Ghana also attained a second alternation in eight years and passed Samuel Huntington’s two--turnover test of democratic consoilidation


THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF (CONT’D)

THE 2008 ELECTIONS: ACCOUNTING FOR THE OUTCOME

For the First Round Presidential election:

•The NPP’s chances of winning in a single round were seriously affected by the acrimonious campaign in the party by the 17 aspirants to succeed incumbent President Kufuor

•The acrimonious and sometimes violent NPP parliamentary primaries also made it difficult to mobilize at the constituency level in support of the presidential election

•The NPP also suffered from the challenges of parties seeking a third consecutive term with all the attendant yearning for change

•The Kufuor government in its second term committed mistakes that tended to overshadow its successes in the first term; for example Kufor awarded himself the highest national honour he had created at a time when Ghanaians were encountering economic hardships

•There was relative unity in the NDC particularly after the breakaway of the DFP; and Mills’ third conservative attempt attracted considerable sympathy

•The third parties performed poorer than in 2000 but still induced a run-off with 3%

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 18

THE 2008 ELECTIONS: ACCOUNTING FOR THE OUTCOME (CONT’D)

For the Parliamentary Contest:

•The NPP parliamentary primaries were acrimonious and sometimes violent in places such as Bekwai, Bosome-Freho, Suhum, Tema West. As a result, several disgruntled aspirants went independent in protest, four of whom were elected

•In regions such as Central, Greater Accra & Northern a number of NPP first term incumbents won by very narrow margins in 2004 with little chance of re-election. In those three regions, the NPP lost as many as 21 seats

•The NDC’s parliamentary primaries were relatively more peaceful and manifested in its capture of majority in three regions (Central, Greater Accra & Western) it had lost in the two previous elections

•Some of the third parties were not competitive enough. Three of them, for example, together contested less than 20 seats



For the Presidential Run-off:

•The NPP’s apparent invincibility was broken when it failed to win in the first round

•The NPP lost its parliamentary majority and it became increasingly difficult to convince Ghanaians to vote for a president with a minority in Parliament

•The NPP’s policies of desperation in the run up to the run-off did not help matters

•Mills’ performance in the first round was his best in all his three attempts and had taken control of six regions and trailed narrowly in two

•The divided support of the third parties instead of their full support of the candidate in the lead in the first round favoured Mills more than Akufo-Addo

2/24/2019 Lecturer Mr. Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 20

THE 2008 ELECTIONS: POST-ELECTION POLITICS

•Mills assumed the Presidency in January 2009 with his running mate John Mahama as Vice President

•Mills formed a government which included interestingly several non-parliamentary contestants handling important portfolios as Justice & Attorney General, Finance, Defence, food & Agriculture & Health. Others were MPs, ex-MPs and losing candidates

•In parliamentary leadership, a precedent was set with the election of a retired female Supreme Court judge, Joyce Bramford-Addo, as Speaker of Parliament with fifth term NDC MP for Avenor, Edward Doe-Adjaho as First Deputy Speaker and second term NPP MP for Dome-Kwabenya, Mike Oquaye, as Second Deputy

•Ex-two-term Minority Leader Alban Bagbin and fifth term NDC MP for Nadawli West became the Majority Leader with fifth term NDC MP Talensi as his Deputy

•Ex-Deputy Majority Leader and fourth term MP for Suame, Osei-Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, became the new Minority Leader with first term MP & ex-Deputy Attorney General, Ambrose Dery as his Deputy


THE 2008 ELECTIONS: POST-ELECTIONS POLITICS (CONT’D)

• In 2011 incumbent President Mills was challenged in his re-election bid in an unprecedented party primary by the ex-first lady, Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, but he prevailed

• Mills’ administration was overshadowed by the much publicized but often denied problems about his health till his rather sudden demise in July 2012

• His Vice, John Mahama, succeeded Mills for his unexpired term and he in turn nominated for parliamentary approval, Bank Of Ghana Governor, Bekoe Amissah-Arthur as a the new Vice President

• The NPP after its stunning defeat decided to enlarge the number of delegates to elect party candidates at all levels and to cap the number of presidential aspirants at five

• It was on the basis of these innovations that Akufo-Addo was re-nominated in 2010 ahead of the 2012 elections


TOPIC TWO

•THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS


BACKGROUND TO THE 2012 ELECTIONS

• Following the NPP’s stunning 2008 defeat, the party went into self-retrospection and later introduced reforms to make its nomination process less acrimonious. As earlier indicated, it restricted future presidential aspirants to a maximum of five and enlarged its electoral college to over a 100, 000 across the country while that of the parliamentary primary was also enlarged at the constituency level.

• It was through such innovations that the NPP re-nominated Nana Akufo-Addo 2010 in a contest that again included Alan Kyeremanten. But it would be in the election year that Akufo-Addo would re-nominate Bawumia as his running mate

• The NPP parliamentary candidates were later similarly nominated.

• On the part of the NDC, incumbent President Mills had to contest a party primary for his re-election bid in July 2011 and prevailed against ex-first lady, Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.


BACKGROUND TO THE 2012 ELECTIONS (CONT’D)

• Mills quickly re-nominated his Vice Mahama as running mate.

• After Mills death in July 2012 his successor John Mahama became the new presidential candidate with new Veep Amissah-Arthur as his running mate.

• In the election year, 2008 CPP presidential candidate Kwesi Nduom broke away and formed the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

• Other new parties emerged in the election year. These included the United Front Party (UFP), Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP), Yes People’s Party (YPP), & Independence People’s party (IPP)

• Ahead of the election parliamentary seats were increased by 45 from 230 to 275 unevenly distributed across the regions: Ashanti-8, Brong Ahafo-5, Central-4, Eastern-5, greater Accra-7, Northern-5, Upper East-2, Upper West-1, Volta-4 & Western-4

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr.Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 25

THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: THE CONTESTING PARTIES/CONTESTANTS

Like in 2008, there were eight presidential candidates:

•The ruling NDC eventually nominated new President John Mahama with his Vice Amissah-Arthur

•Major opposition NPP re-nominated Akufo-Addo and Bawumia

•For the first time since 1996 the PNC had a new presidential candidate Hassan Ayariga in place of Edward Mahama with a lady running mate, Helen D. Matrevi

•The CPP nominated its 2008 running mate, Abu Sakara Forster as its presidential candidate with another woman, Nana Akosua Frimpomaa as running mate

•The GCPP with the demise of its founder Dan Lartey, nominated his son, Henry Lartey with John Amekah as his running mate

•The breakaway PPP nominated its founder and ex-CPP presidential candidate Papa Kwesi Nduom with another lady and ex-broadcaster Eva Lokko as his running mate

•Another debutant, GFP had Akwasi Addai with Fred Osei Agyen as running mate, while independent Jacob Osei Yeboah had Kelvin Nii Tackie as his running mate

•A number of parties (NDP, GFP, NVP, IPP) had their candidates disqualified

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr.Alex K. D. Frempong Slide 26

THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL TICKETS

PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RUNNING MATE

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC)

JOHN MAHAMA K. B. AMISSAH-ARTHUR

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP) NANA A. D AKUFO-ADDO MAHAMADU BAWUMIA

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL CONVENTION (PNC)

HASSAN AYARIGA HELEN D. MATREVI

CONVENTION PEOPLE’S PARTY (CPP)

ABU SAKARA FORSTER NANA AKOSUA FRIMPOMAA

GREAT CONSOLIDATED POPULAR PARTY (GCPP)

HENRY LARTEY JOHN AMEKAH

PROGRESSIVE PEOPLE’S PARTY (PPP)

PAPA KWESI NDUOM EVA LOKKO

UNITED FRONT PARTY (UFP) AKWASI ADDAI FRED OSEI AGYEM

INDEPENDENT (IND) JACOB OSEI YEBOAH KELVIN NII TACKIE


THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: THE OUTCOME

The 2012 presidential outcome had interesting dimensions:

•Overall: Mahama (NDC)-50.7%, Akufo-Addo (NPP)-47.7% with aggregate 1.6% for the six other contestants

•Mahama was elected in a single round by 50.7% with a majority in eight regions: Brong Ahafo-51.5%, Central-52.3%, Greater Accra-52.3% Northern-58.2%, Upper East-66.4%, Upper West-66.5%, Volta-83.7% & Western-50.7%. In the two regions he lost Mahama made 42.6% in Eastern and 28.1% in Ashanti

•Akufo-Addo with a national vote of 47.7% had a majority in two regions: Ashanti-71.2% & Eastern-56.3%. In the eight others which he lost, he made in Brong Ahafo-47.3%, Central-45.4%, Greater Accra-46.9%, Northern-39.1%, Upper East-29.3%, Upper West-29.3%, Volta-14.7%

•It is significant that winning in just two regions, Akufo-Addo’s vote was just 3% less than Mahama’s

•For the six other contestants their aggregate 1.6% was about half the 3% in 2008 and cold not push the contest into a run-off


THE 2012 PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST

As many as 14 parties contested the 2012 parliamentary election, and as usual with varied strengths, together with 120 independents:

•The ruling NDC and major opposition NPP contested all the 275 seats

•The breakaway PPP contested 211 while the parent CPP had 145.

•While debutant NDP had 155, long-contesting PNC did so in 94

•The remaining eight others just made the numbers, contesting less than 20 each: DPP-16, UFP-7, IPP-5, NVP-4, URP-4, GFP-3, GCPP-2 & YPP-1

•The 120 independents were spread across the 10 regions as follows: Greater Accra with the highest number of 21, followed by Ashanti-18, Northern-18, Eastern-17, Volta-16, brong Ahafo-10, Western-8, Central-6, Upper West-4, Upper East-2. As usual several of them were party protesters


THE 2012 PARLIAMENTARY RESULTS

The 2012 parliamentary outcome had its own interesting dimensions:

•Overall: NDC-148, NPP-123, PNC-1 and three independents, all NDC protesters

•The NDC retained its parliamentary in eight regions and won seats across all the 10 regions: Ashanti-4, Brong Ahafo-16, Central-16, Eastern-7, Greater Accra-20, Northern-20, Upper East-12, Upper West-10, Volta-25 & Western-18. It remained the only party that had won seats in all regions in all the six parliamentary elections in the Fourth Republic

•The NPP retained parliamentary majority in only Ashanti-43 & Eastern-26 and seats across six other regions: Brong Ahafo-13, Central-7, Greater Accra-14, Northern-10, Upper East-2 & Western-8, with none in Upper West & Volta

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr.Alex K. D. Frempongl Slide 30

THE 2012 PARLIAMENTARY RESULTS (CONT’D)

• The three independent winners were all NDC protesters: Alhassan Dahamani (Tamale North), Paul Derigubaa (Jirapa) and Joseph Ofori (Akan)

• The PNC retained one of the two it previously held (Builsa South) but lost the other (Sissala West) to the NDC

• The CPP lost its sole Jomoro seat back to the NDC

• None of the other 10 parties could win any seat

• Of the 275 MPs, 30 were women spread unevenly across the 10 regions: Ashanti-4, Brong Ahafo-2, Central-5, Eastern-3, Greater Accra-8, Northern-1, Upper East-1, Volta-4 & Western-1

• Of the 30 female MPs, 16 were NPP and the other 14 NDC

• One of the 30 women MPs, Mary Boforo (NDC, Savelugu) won an unprecedented fifth term

2/24/2019 Lecturer: Mr.Allex K. D. Frempong Slide 31

THE 2012 ELECTIONS:ACCOUNTING FOR THE OUTCOME

For the Presidential Election:

•The suddenness of Mills’ death attracted sympathy nationwide and the criticism against his government somewhat mellowed

•For the voters in the North the emergence of Mahama offered them a rare opportunity to have a president of their own compared to the vice presidency for which they have had several

•Akufo-Addo’s campaign appeared over-reliant on his free secondary education for which doubts were created about its implementability

•Akufo-Addo’s critics capitalized on his ‘all die be die’ mantra to picture him as a war-monger

•There were indications that the NDC over-monetized the campaign particularly when Mahama assumed the reins of power

•There were conflicting directives about the use of biometric verification on election day and for the first time in in the 4th Republic, presidential elections were held on 2days because of the failure of several of the verification machines



For the Parliamentary Election:

•The NDC enjoyed the advantages of incumbency particularly when it strategically fielded several ministers, MMDCEs and other government officials in several orphan constituencies

•The serious controversies over the re-demarcation of constituencies left too little time to campaign in the new constituencies and that generally favoured the incumbents

•Similarly, the controversies surrounding the biometric verification favoured the incumbents

•Compared to the NPP, the NDC had a larger proportion of first term MPs who were more likely to be re-elected

•The two third parties (PNC & CPP) which previously held seats performed worse than before while a large number of the others contesting for the first time made no difference



• The NPP disputed the presidential outcome and would petition the Supreme Court within 21 days

• Mahama and his vice Amissah-Arthur however would be inaugurated on mandated 7th January 2013

• Mahama retained several of Mills substantive ministers but in different portfolios, promoted a few deputies ministers as well as brought new faces (including three women in substantive positions of Attorney-General, Education, Gender)

• The NPP parliamentary caucus in the cause of the petition hearings boycotted the vetting of ministers

• In Parliament, former First Deputy Speaker, Doe Adjaho, who had been elected for his sixth term had to resign his seat and become the new Speaker of Parliament. He became the first sitting MP in the Fourth Republic to be elected Speaker

• Second term NDC MP for Cape Coast and former Deputy Attorney General became the First deputy Speaker and third term NPP MP for Essikado-Ketan, the Second Deputy



• Immediate past Attorney General and NDC MP for Nandom Benjamin Kunbuor became the new Majority Leader with third term NDC MP for Ashaiman, Alfred Agbesi as Deputy

• The NPP retained MP for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu as Minority Leader and third term MP for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul appointed Deputy Minority Leader

• After eight months, the Supreme Court in August 2013 confirmed Mahama’s victory and Akufo-Addo in reaction indicated that while he disagreed, he accepted the verdict

• Akufo-Addo would be re-nominated for his third attempt at the presidency in 2014 ahead of the 2016 election and when Mahama was later re-nominated, it set the stage for the 2016 re-contest

2/24/2019 Lecturers: Mr. Alex K. D. Frempongl Slide 35

REFERENCES

• Frempong, A.K. D (2012) Electoral Politics in Ghana’s Fourth Republic in the Context of Post-Cold War Africa, Accra: Yames Press Ltd

• Frempong, A. K. D (2017) Elections in Ghana (1951-2016), Tema: Digibooks Ghana Ltd.

• Gyimah-Boadi, E. (2009) “Another Step Forward for

Ghana”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 20, No.2, April,

pp. 138-152


PRACTICE QUESTIONS

• How difference were the challenges of succession in the NPP ahead of the 2008 elections from those of the NDC towards the 200 elections?

• What positive steps did the NDC take to avoid a third consecutive defeat in 2008?

• Identify any two factors that contributed to the inconclusive first round presidential election in 2008?

• What caused the massive parliamentary defeat of the NPP in the 2008 parliamentary election?

• How did the independent contestants fare in the 2008 parliamentary election?

• Identify any two advantages the opposition NDC have going into the 2008 presidential run-off.

• Identify any two desperate measures the NPP took ahead of the 2008 presidential run-off

• Explain the ‘Tain tie-breaker’ in the 2008 presidential run-off

• How significant was 2008 alternation in power in the country’s electoral history


PRACTICE QUESTIONS (CONT’D)

• What predecent was set by the challenge to Mills re-election by ex-first lady Agyeman-Rawlings?

• How did the demise of Mills in July 2012 affect the outcome of the 2012 presidential election?

• What was the margin of defeat of the NPP in the 2012 presidential poll?

• Indicate one reason for the NPP’s petition against the outcome of the 2012 presidential election?

• What was common about the three independent winners in the 2012 parliamentary election?

• Indicate the respective seats the NDC and NPP won the 2012 parliamentary election

• What was significant about the election of the Speaker of Parliament after the 2012 parliamentary election


poli 444 electoral politics and democracy in ghana•the pnc nominated edward mahama for the fourth...

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