Voter registration for the general elections scheduled for December 7th, 2024, in Ghana has commenced as of May 7th. The presidential election is highly anticipated in this West African country.
In Ghana, May 7th, 2024, marks the beginning of voter registration for the December 7th presidential election. This 21-day period allows new voters to register at one of the 1,063 centers set up across the country.
The upcoming election will not feature the current president, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is completing his second term, amid a severely deteriorated economic backdrop. The challenge for Mahamadu Bawumia, the current vice president of Ghana, is to maintain the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in power for a third consecutive term. Bawumia, the candidate of the ruling party, faces the burden of his economic record. Since 2022, the country has been in default, the value of the Ghanaian cedi has plummeted, and inflation remains high, reaching a historic peak of over 50% less than two years ago.
Numerous Scandals
Opposing him is the candidate of the opposition and former president John Dramani Mahama. The leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is currently the frontrunner in the polls, with 54.3% of the vote intentions. However, Mahama’s political adversaries do not hesitate to recall the numerous corruption scandals that marred his presidency, as well as the “Dumsor” years: a significant period during his tenure marked by daily power outages.
As the December 7th election approaches, calls for peaceful elections are multiplying. Ghana’s electoral history, which has seen democratic alternation for 32 years, has not been without its challenges: eight people died in clashes during the 2020 elections.