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Ghana’s NPP nominates VP for 2024 presidential race
FILE PHOTO: Ghana's Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia is sworn in at the Independence square in Accra, Ghana January 7, 2017. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo
Ghana’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) elected the current vice president Mahamudu Bawumia as their choice for the 2024 presidential candidate during the primaries, as reported by the party’s electoral commission. The upcoming election is expected to address Ghana’s severe economic challenges, exacerbated by this year’s $3 billion IMF loan agreement.
In the final results, Bawumia secured 61.4% of the votes, surpassing Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, his closest competitor, who obtained 37.4%. While appreciated by his party, as the Vice President during Ghana’s worst crisis in modern history, NPP, and therefore Bawumia’s, track record might not provide the glowing review needed to win.
Expressing gratitude after the results, Bawumia acknowledged the victory as a tribute to the party members, particularly the grassroots, stating, “It’s a victory for the rank and file of our great party and particularly to the grassroot members. I am humbled and overwhelmed.”
Agyapong acknowledged the fairness and transparency of the process, declaring that the grassroots have spoken and therefore he accepts the results.
Ghana, known for its cocoa, gold, and oil resources, has faced economic challenges leading to the IMF agreement aimed at stabilising public finances. Ghana is currently going through its worst economic crisis in a generation. Last year, the inflation rate hit a record high of 54%. Multiple credit rating agencies have downgraded the nation, preventing it from borrowing money internationally. Ghana’s low-income households and working class are feeling the most the effects of the country’s crisis.
Amid these economic complexities, President Akufo-Addo, in office since 2017, will step down after his constitutionally limited two terms. Bawumia is set to face off against the opposition’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, former president John Dramani Mahama, in the 2024 elections.
