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Former Ghanaian President John Mahama has won the votes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) delegates to lead the party into the 2024 presidential election. According to certified results by the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Mahama received an overwhelming 297,603 votes, representing 98.9% of the total valid votes cast at the end of the NDC primaries on Saturday. His closest contender, former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu, polled a paltry 3,181, representing 1.1%.
The other contender in the NDC flagbearership race, former Finance Minister in the Mills regime, Kwabena Duffour, pulled out on Friday. His withdrawal was based on his grievances with the processes, especially the voters register, which he thought did not guarantee free and fair elections. He explained that the exercise was marred by a lot of irregularities; a situation that was not resolved by the leadership of the party.
Mr Mahama has previously led the NDC into three different elections, and this will be his fourth attempt. He first led the NDC into an election in 2012 when he took over as President after the death of then-President John Evans Mills. In that same year, he won the election and became President.
As an incumbent, he lost to then-opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016, becoming the first President to serve only one full term. In 2019, Mr Mahama won the flagbearership race with an overwhelming endorsement of 95% votes to represent the NDC in the 2020 election but lost to incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo who was declared the winner of the December 7th vote with 51.59%, ahead of the NDC candidate who received 47.37%. Mr Mahama challenged the outcome at the Supreme Court, arguing that Akufo-Addo’s votes in some polling stations were padded, pushing him above the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff, but he lost the court challenge.
Many recent interviews with Mr Mahama have shown that, with the benefit of hindsight, he has realised his mistakes and wants another opportunity to better lead the country. The former President has expressed his desire to put his experience and knowledge to good use and lead the country again. He believes that his leadership style will be different this time, and he will put the needs of Ghanaians first.
Mr Mahama has also stated that there is no disunity in the party, despite Dr Kwabena Duffour’s last-minute withdrawal from the race. He believes that the NDC is a family, and all members are part of that family, as long as they are willing to come together and work towards the 2024 elections. Mr Mahama has urged his party members to come together and make overtures, assuring them that the party will not be affected by Dr Duffour’s withdrawal.
