On their marks…
After months of arduous campaigns, the seven presidential candidates in this year’s general election will on Wednesday, December 7 know who the people of Ghana want to lead the country for the next four years.
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Many knowledgeable observers think it would be a nail-biting affair but whether the electorate will cast their votes based on what they read and understood from manifestoes or based on what they gleaned from the arsenal of ‘communicators’ will be known from the hours after the close of voting.
The Electoral Commission, which is the arbiter in the contest, has come under a lot of scrutiny and criticism in the time leading up to the election. Everybody’s hope, however, is that the voting, collation and announcement of results will happen peacefully.
As the candidates get on their marks for the homestretch, we hope everyone will abide by all the voting regulations to enable us to have a credible winner.
The candidates are Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet (Convention People’s Party), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (National Democratic Party), Mr John Dramani Mahama (National Democratic Congress) and Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom (Progressive People’s Party).
The rest are Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (New Patriotic Party), Dr Edward Mahama (People's National Convention) and Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah, an independent candidate.
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings: National Democratic Party (NDP)
Mrs Rawlings is the Founder of the NDP, a businesswoman and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement.
She was elected 1st Vice Chairperson in 2009 when she was a member of the NDC.
She challenged the then sitting President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, for the party's flag bearer position in 2011 and lost.
She left the NDC to form the NDP in 2012.
She is married to Jerry John Rawlings with whom she has four children.
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom: Progressive People’s Party (PPP)
Apart from being a politician, Dr Nduom is also a prominent businessman. He formed the PPP initially to contest the 2012 Election.
Dr Nduom’s active role in politics began in 1997 when he was elected as a member of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem District Assembly in the Central Region.
He was appointed by President John Kufuor at various times as the Minister for Energy and also as Minister for Public Sector Reform. He served as the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission at a point.
Papa Kwesi Nduom’s investments in the service sector and industries under the Groupe Nduom conglomerate has grown to over 55 entities in Ghana and abroad.
He is married to Mrs Yvonne Nduom and they have four children.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo: New Patriotic Party (NPP)
His political career aside, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is also a lawyer and businessman.
He contested and lost in the 2008 and 2012 elections. Nana Addo was elected three times between 1996 and 2008 as Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South Constituency in the Eastern Region.
He served from 2001 to 2007 as Cabinet Minister, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and later as Foreign Minister during the government led by President John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor.
The 2012 election which he lost to the NDC candidate, John Mahama, generated considerable controversy and was finally decided by the Supreme Court in favour of John Mahama.
He served as Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Mission for the South African election in 2014.
Nana Akufo-Addo is married to Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo and they have children.
John Dramani Mahama: National Democratic Congress (NDC)
John Dramani Mahama is a former Member of Parliament and Minister of State as well as former Vice-President of Ghana. He ascended the Presidency following the death of John Atta Mills in 2012.
Upon acting as caretaker President for five months, he contested as flag bearer of the ruling NDC in 2012 and won the election. He was sworn in as President by the Chief Justice, Justice Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood.
He is the fourth elected leader in the Fourth Republic and the fourth "John" to govern the nation.
Mr Mahama has seven children and is married to Mrs Lordina Mahama.
He is an avid reader and writer and his first book, My First Coup d'État, was published by Bloomsbury in 2012.
Dr Edward Mahama: People's National Convention (PNC)
Dr Mahama was the presidential candidate for the PNC in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.
He lost the position of presidential candidate to Hassan Ayariga in 2012 but managed to win it back in 2016.
Dr Edward Mahama is an elected fellow of the West African College of Surgeons and was a lecturer and consultant of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for many years.
He is married to Comfort and has children.
Jacob Osei Yeboah: Independent Candidate
Jacob Osei Yeboah is an engineer and entrepreneur and the only independent candidate contesting the forthcoming election.
He first contested the presidential election in 2012 and obtained less than one per cent of the total valid votes cast.
Educated in Ghana, the United Kingdom and Germany, he is the Founder and West Africa Director of Vital Source Limited (VSL), a procurement and logistics company focused on gold mining and oil and gas industry in West Africa.
He co-founded the United Movement for Change (UMC), a pressure group aimed at bringing political and economic change in Ghana in 2010.
He is married to Hilda and they have children.
