Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama has staged a political comeback by winning the West African nation’s presidential election after his rival Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia conceded defeat on Sunday.
Bawumia is the candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) while Mahama is of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Results trickling in have placed Mahama on course to win the election
While the former president has gathered 976,644 votes, representing 56.39 percent, Bawumia has 42.64 percent with 738,493 votes.
Bawumia addressed a press conference at his house on Sunday before the declaration of the official results.
The vice-president said his decision was in Ghana’s interest and that he had called Mahama to congratulate him.
“Let me say that the data from our own internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the presidential election decisively,” Bawumia said.
“The NDC has also won the parliamentary election. Even though we await the final collation of a number of seats, I believe ultimately these will not change the outcome.
“I am making this concession speech before the official announcement by the electoral commission to avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country.
“It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana.”
Bawumia added that he accepts the decision of Ghanaians “with all humility”.
Mahama, who lost his re-election bid to Nana Akufo-Addo in 2017, is expected to take over as president in January 2025.
The development in Ghana mirrored the outcome of the 2024 US election where Donald trump was elected as the 47th president of the country having defeated the incumbent Vice President, Kamala Harris.
In 2020, Trump, who was the 45th president of the US and a candidate of the Republican was defeated by Joe Biden in his reelection bid. However, he made a come back to defeate Harris, candidate of the Democrat in the 2024 election after Biden dumped his second term ambition over health concerns.
