Ghana’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) declared on Sunday, the former president John Dramani Mahama as its flagbearer for the 2024 presidential election. Mahama won by a landslide, scoring 98.9% of the votes cast in the party’s primaries, beating former Kumasi mayor Kojo Bonsu, who scored 1.1%.
The primaries took place over the weekend, with over 355,000 party delegates converging at 401 voting centres across the country to elect a candidate for both the parliamentary and presidential polls. The victory is significant for the NDC, which has suffered defeats in the previous two elections against incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Mahama had been eyeing a return to the presidency and had faced off with former central bank governor Kwabena Duffuor and Bonsu. However, Duffuor withdrew from the race on Friday, citing a lack of confidence in the party’s ability to conduct a “free and fair election.”
The victory for Mahama comes as Ghana holds talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a $3 billion bailout to help overcome an economic crisis, and as it faces a growing jihadist threat from a conflict in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
Mahama’s experience and influence in the opposition party were the key factors that worked in his favour. Political analysts have predicted that he is the most marketable candidate in the party and has a better chance of returning the NDC to power than any other candidate.
With the victory, Mahama is now set to face off against Akufo-Addo in the 2024 elections, where he hopes to mount a serious challenge to unseat the incumbent president.