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2012 Ghanaian general election

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Field	Value
country	Ghana
previous_election	2008 Ghanaian presidential election
previous_year	2008
election_date	7–8 December 2012
next_election	2016 Ghanaian general election
next_year	2016
module	{{Infobox election
embed	yes
type	presidential
election_name	Presidential election
turnout	79.43%
image1	John Dramani Mahama 2014 (cropped).jpg
nominee1	John Mahama
party1	National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
running_mate1	Kwesi Amissah-Arthur
popular_vote1	5,574,761
percentage1	50.70%
image2	Nana Akufo-Addo at European Development Days 2017.jpg
nominee2	Nana Akufo-Addo
running_mate2	Mahamudu Bawumia
party2	New Patriotic Party
popular_vote2	5,248,898
percentage2	47.74%
map_image	2012 Ghanaian presidential election (percentage by region).svg
map_caption	Results by region
title	President
before_election	John Mahama
before_party	National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
after_election	John Mahama
after_party	National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
module	{{Infobox legislative election
embed	yes
election_name	Parliamentary election
seats_for_election	All 275 seats in Parliament
majority_seats	138
leader1	Nana Akufo-Addo
party1	New Patriotic Party
last_election1	108
seats1	122
percentage1	47.51
leader2	John Mahama
party2	National Democratic Congress (Ghana)
last_election2	115
seats2	148
percentage2	46.41
leader3	Samia Nkrumah
party3	Convention People's Party
last_election3	1
seats3	1
percentage3	0.73
leader4	Hassan Ayariga
party4	PNC
last_election4	2
seats4	1
percentage4	0.66
leader5	–
party5	Independents
last_election5	4
seats5	3
percentage5	2.50
title	Speaker
before_election	Joyce Bamford-Addo
before_party	Independent politician
after_election	Edward Adjaho
after_party	National Democratic Congress (Ghana)

General elections were held in Ghana on Friday 7 December 2012 to elect a president and members of Parliament in 275 electoral constituencies. Owing to the breakdown of some biometric verification machines, some voters could not vote, and voting was extended to Saturday 8 December 2012. A run-off was scheduled for 28 December 2012 if no presidential candidate received an absolute majority of 50% plus one vote. Competing for presidency were incumbent president John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), his main challenger Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and six other candidates.

Incumbent president John Mahama was declared winner of the presidential contest with 50.7% of the vote, just a few thousand votes over the threshold for avoiding a run-off election. Nana Akufo-Addo received 47.74%. The opposition alleged tampering with results by the Electoral Commission (EC), and filed a petition in a 2012 Ghanaian Presidential Election Petition at the Ghanaian Supreme Court to review the election results. The NPP produced more than 11,000 so-called "pink sheets" to the judges who had to compare them to similar papers from the EC, NDC and possibly other parties. These pink sheets state the results as counted in single polling stations, before aggregating them to any higher level, such as municipality, district and region. The NPP claimed that there were differences between the results as stated immediately after their counting in polling stations, and those which were used in aggregations, and that this can be proven by the pink sheets. In a separate part of the procedure, the EC was challenged to prove that 14,000 expat Ghanaians had voted abroad, and failed to produce any registered voters in foreign countries due to, so EC, the fatal work of a virus in its computer. The election petition led to great changes in the electoral system that helped ensure a high level of transparency in the voting system and collation of the results.

Mahama was elected to a full term less than five months as president having succeeded John Atta Mills, who died suddenly in office in July 2012.

Preparations

Biometric voters registration

The Electoral Commission of Ghana successfully held a biometric system of registration for the electorate from 24 March 2012 to 5 May 2012. The move was aimed to prevent double registration and to eliminate ghost names in the old register.

Electoral demarcations

Controversially, 45 additional constituencies were added to the 230 of the 2008 general election. Voting therefore took place in a total of 275 constituencies and 26002 polling stations.

Region	Total seats
Western Region	26
Central Region	23
Greater Accra		34
Volta		26
Eastern	33
Ashanti	47
Brong-Ahafo	29
Northern	31
Upper East	15
Upper West	11
Total	275

Monitoring

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) trained election observers and deployed 4000 of them to monitor the elections nationwide.

Observers from ECOWAS Observer Mission led by former Nigerian president, General Olusegun Obasanjo also monitored the elections. The mission noted the technical glitches caused by faulty biometric machines but added that it had not undermined the fairness and transparency of the election.

Pre-election controversy

There have been accusations against the media for not covering the election in a fair manner after a media have projected that the main opposition.

Following the death of incumbent President John Atta Mills amid concerns for the election, leader of the Electoral Commission of Ghana Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said that "the election calendar remains unchanged—it's purely a party matter" and the National Democratic Congress had to decide whom to nominate as its new candidate.

The main talking point following the close of nominations was the disqualification of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, leader of the newly formed National Democratic Party. This was due to errors in the documentation presented to the Electoral Commission.

Presidential candidates

Eight candidates were on the ballot.

Party	Candidate name	Religion	Date of birth	Hometown and Region	Highest Educational Qualification	Institution	Present or Last Employer	Position	Profession	Marital Status
People's National Convention	Hassan Ayariga		Muslim	4 September 1972	Bawku, Upper East Region	Ex. Masters in Governance and Leadership	Graduate School of Governance and Leadership	Clean Up Ghana	Managing Director	Accountancy	Married
National Democratic Congress	John Dramani Mahama		Christian	29 November 1958	Bole, Northern Region	Post Graduate Degree	University of Ghana	Government of Ghana	President of the Republic of Ghana	Communications/media	Married
Progressive People's Party	Papa Kwesi Nduom		Catholic	15 February 1953	Elmina, Central Region	PHD	University of Wisconsin	First National Savings and Loans Company	CEO	Management consultant	Married
New Patriotic Party	Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo		Christian	29 March 1944	Kyebi, Eastern Region	Bsc. Econ	University of Ghana	Government of Ghana	Minister for Foreign Affairs	Legal practitioner	Married
Convention People's Party	Michael Abu Sakara Foster		Christian	15 August 1958	Mankuna, Northern Region	Doctor of Philosophy	University of Reading	Unknown	Executive Director	Agronomist	Married
United Front Party	Akwasi Addai Odike	Christian	13 September 1964	Adwumakase Kese, Ashanti Region	'O' Level	Aduman Secondary School	Odike Ventures	CEO	Businessman	Married
Independent Candidate	Jacob Osei Yeboah		Christian	28 October 1968	Atonsu, Nsuta, Ashanti Region	MBA	University of Warwick	Vital Source Limited	Director for West Africa	Engineering consultant	Married
Great Consolidated Popular Party	Henry Herbert Lartey		Christian	5 February 1954	Osu, Greater Accra Region	MBA Economics and Finance	University of Bath	Unknown	Executive Director	Finance, agriculture, and international trade	Single

Running mates

The following eight candidates have been approved by their parties and the Electoral Commission of Ghana as running mates of the above listed presidential candidates for the election on 7 December 2012.

Party	Candidate name	Sex	Profession
People's National Convention	Helen Sanorita Dzatugbe Matrevi	F	Bilingual translator
National Democratic Congress	Kwesi Amissah-Arthur		M	Economist
Progressive People's Party	Eva Lokko		F	Engineer
New Patriotic Party	Mahamudu Bawumia		M	Economist
Convention People's Party	Nana Akosua Frimpomaa		F	Social activist
United Front Party	Fred Osei Agyen	M	Agriculturist
Independent Candidate	Kelvin Nii Tackie		M	Business executive
Great Consolidated Popular Party	John Amekah		M	Retired educationist

Results

President

Parliament

Reactions

The non-partisan Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) all declared that the elections were, for the most part, free and fair. Despite this, there were still widespread allegations of voting irregularities, though these were dismissed as unsubstantiated by the electoral commission chairman. As a result of these claims, the New Patriotic Party immediately rejected the results upon their release and its candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, remarked that his party's leaders would be meeting on 11 December to consider their options, one of which is to contest the results by lodging an appeal in court. Violent opposition was however ruled out.

African Union commission chairman Thomas Yayi flew to Ghana to meet with the two men. He was also reported to have congratulated Mahama on his victory, and charged him to preside over an all-inclusive government. Yayi praised the conduct and the participants of the election.

In anticipation of petitions regarding the election, Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood has established two public complaints secretariats to swiftly process such concerns.

In a statement after being declared the victor, Mahama gave a reconciliatory message, saying "I wish to welcome my fellow candidates to join me now as partners in the project of nation building and of creating a better Ghana".

Image gallery

File:Ghanaians cast their votes.jpg|Ghanaians in voting process File:Ghanaians line up to vote in 2012 general elections.jpg|Voters lined up to vote

References

"Regional Distribution of 275 Constituencies".
(8 December 2012). "Ghana election: Voting enters second day".
"Profile of 2012 Presidential Candidates".
(10 December 2012). "Ghana election: John Mahama declared winner". BBC News.
(9 December 2012). "Ghana's Mahama wins election, opposition cries foul". Reuters.
"Pre-election in Ghana".
"Compilation of Biometric Register Begins March 24".
"Ghana Think".
"Controversy Over the Creation OF 45 New Constituencies".
"CODEO to deploy observers for 2012 elections".
"CODEO Ready To Observe Election 2012".
"Electoral Challenges Has Not Undermined Election Process—Obasanjo Observes".
(9 December 2012). "Ghana: John Mahama declared election winner". The Daily Telegraph.
(25 July 2012). "Ghana swears in Mahama as new president".
(18 October 2012). "Nana Konadu's Presidential dream crashed".
(10 December 2012). "Ghana election: NPP considers challenge to John Mahama win". BBC News.
Felix, Bate. (10 December 2012). "Ghana opposition contender might challenge election results".
Essel, Issac. (10 December 2012). "Update: AU chairman to meet Nana Akufo-Addo, after meeting Mahama".
(10 December 2012). "Ghana’s Judiciary sets up complaint secretariats for post elections petitions".
(10 December 2012). "Leave behind era of pettiness, intolerance and negativity – Mahama urges".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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