Gold, prices, and jobs: Wetin dey at stake for Ghana elections?
Wia dis foto come from, AFP
- Author, Damian Zane
- Role, BBC News
- Read am in 6 mins
Ghana go get new president afta December election. Di current vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and one former head of state, John Mahama, na di two leading candidates to win di poll.
Nana Akufo-Addo, wey im kontri pipo first elect for 2016, go end im second and final four-year term tenure.
When be di general election?
On Saturday 7 December, nearly 18.8 million Ghanaians wey register to vote go take part for di kontri ninth general election since dem reintroduce multiparty politics for early 1990s.
For di last 30 years, di kontri don experience a series of closely fought but peaceful polls. Ghana get reputation for dia orderly transfer of power between administrations.
Wetin Ghanaians dey vote for?
On polling day, two elections go take place at once:
- Presidential – Na12 candidates dey contest
- Parliamentary – voters for 275 constituencies across di kontri go choose dia lawmaker.
Who go be Ghana next president?
Wia dis foto come from, AFP
Although 12 hopefuls dey eye di presidency, na only dis two get realistic chance of winning. Since di kontri return to multiparty politics for 1992 only candidates from either di National Democratic Congress (NDC) or di New Patriotic Party (NPP) don win.
Di two front-runners na:
- Mahamudu Bawumia (NPP) - Im serve as Akufo-Addo vice-president for eight years, di 61-year-old Oxford-educated economist fit make history as di kontri first Muslim president. Di former deputy govnor of di central bank get reputation for im financial know-how. But dat fit also work against am many pipo dey criticise am sake of Ghana harsh economic crisis under im watch.
- John Mahama (NDC) – Winning dis ballot go represent a comeback for di 65-year-old as im don already serve as president for four-and-a-half years from 2012 but den lose di 2016 election. Wen im bin dey office, im nickname na “Mr Dumsor”, na sake of di power cuts wey bin dey worry well-well during im time for office. On di current tough economy, Mahama don promise “urgent reset” for di kontri wey need an experienced leader at di top.
Oda candidates wey dey draw attention na:
- Nana Kwame Bediako – Di businessman, wey also dey known as “Cheddar”, e no get political background but im don make plenty impact on social media and im dey attract young supporters.
- Alan Kyerematen – Di former minister, im nickname na “Alan Cash”, im leave NPP last year afta im bin complain say di presidential primaries bin dey biased against am. Im fit draw some NPP support for di party heartland for Ashanti region.
Wetin be di big issues?
Economic kwesions na di major concern for pipo for di build-up to di election, especially di rising cost of living. At di end of 2022, di annual inflation rate hit 54%. e don come down since den but prices still dey rise.
Di World Bank say as many as 850,000 Ghanaians fit don enta poverty for 2022 sake of di rising prices of goods and services. Dis "new poor" join di six million wey already dey live in poverty.
By di end of 2022, goment finances drop wit just small wey remain to support di kontri budget, dis force Ghana to go meet di International Monetary Fund for help.
Unemployment among young pipo and Ghanaians dey japa to look for better opportunities for oda places. Dis na some of di issues wey don happun in recent years.
Di NDC condemn di "abysmal performance" and demand for reset.
Di governing NPP say dem don build a resilient economy wey dey on di "cusp of… transformation" so dis no be time to change.
Concerns ova di environmental impact of illegal gold mining – many pipo for di kontri know am as “galamsey” – e don become anoda major talking-point. A series of demonstrations ova di practice, wey don lead to di pollution of several major rivers wit dangerous chemicals, na anoda major issue in di build-up to di vote.
Di two major parties agree say dem need to address di issue , but while di NPP say e no dey important for di economy to allow some small-scale miners to kotinu dia work, di NDC dey call for much tougher regulation and di restriction of new licences.
How di election dey work?
Wia dis foto come from, AFP
To win di presidential election for di first round, a candidate must get more dan half of di votes cast. If nobody pass dat condition den dem go do a second round run-off wit di two candidates wit di largest number of votes, e go take place by di end of December.
Di parliamentary election na run on a first-past-the-post basis wit di winner being di candidate for each constituency wit di largest share of votes, even if e dey less dan 50%.
On election day, each voter fit turn up to dia assigned polling station wit dia voter’s ID card, wia dem go collect dia fingerprints electronically and den check am bifor dem give dem di two ballot papers. Each pesin wey don vote dem go mark dia little finger wit indelible ink to prevent dem to vote a second time.
Wetin happun for di previous elections?
Since 1992, Ghana presidential election dey dey very tight.
For 2008, less dan half a percentage point na im bin separate di two candidates for di second round.
In di election four years later, di winner, Mahama, pass di 50% threshold for di first round by less dan 80,000 votes.
Dat result lead to one legal complaint from NPP, wey bin argue say ddem tamper wit di tally sheets for some polling stations. Di challenge no bin dey successful, but e make di electoral commission to introduce new measures to ensure greater transparency.
Election observers many times don praise voting process for di kontri.
When we go know di result?
Going by previous elections, di electoral commission dey likely to announce di result by 10 December. According to di Electoral Commission Act, dem must announce result of di election 72 hours afta voting.
Additional reporting by Favour Nunoo and Komla Adom for Accra
