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Election Date: December 7, 2004

At stake: President, Parliament

Background

Ghana—the first black African nation to achieve independence—fell into political instability in 1966, when first president Kwane Nkrumah was deposed. In 1981, Jerry Rawlings took over after a coup, and tried to steer the country towards democratic and financial success.

In 1992, a new constitution was approved in a nationwide referendum, allowing for a multi-party system. In 1994 and 1995, a series of land disputes in the north escalated into ethnic violence. Around 1,000 people were killed, and close to 150,000 more were displaced.

Following Rawlings' retirement in 2000, John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won a run-off over John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with 57.4 per cent of all cast ballots. The election marked the first truly democratic transfer of power since Ghana attained its independence in 1957

Today, Ghana's citizens have one of the lowest incomes in the world, despite the area's abundance of mineral resources.

2004 Presidential Election

The election in Ghana pits the same contenders of 2000: incumbent John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Two other contenders—George Aggudey of the Convention People's Party (CPP) and Edward Mahama of the People's National Convention (PNC)—are also running.

Kufuor has endeavoured to make Ghana a major player in Africa, by participating in high-profile peacekeeping operations in the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A poll by The Statesman released in July had incumbent Kufuor in first place with 49 per cent of the vote, followed by Atta Mills with 24.3 per cent. If no candidate garners more than 50 per cent of all cast ballots, a run-off will take place on Dec. 28.

According to the Electoral Commission, a total of 952 candidates—including 100 women—are campaigning for the parliamentary ballot. The contending parties are the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People's Party (CPP), the Democratic People's Party (DPP), the Ghana Democratic Republican Party (GDRP) and the Grand Coalition—encompassing the the People's National Convention (PNC), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE).

On Nov. 7, the government announced that seven serving and retired military officers had been arrested for planning a coup to overthrow Kufuor. The officers allegedly planned acts of "destabilization and sabotage" in the run-up to the December presidential election.

Voting went on without any major problems. On Dec. 9, with 199 out of 230 constituencies reporting, Kufour was in first place in the presidential race with 53.4 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Atta Mills with 43.8 per cent, Mahama with 1.6 per cent and Aggudey with 1.2 per cent.

On Dec. 10, Electoral Commission chairman Kwadwo Afari-Djan declared Kufour had won the presidential election in the first round, with 52.75 per cent of all cast ballots. Atta Mills finished in second place with 44.32 per cent. While some 220,000 votes were still to be counted—and the opposition NDC cited an "unusually high" number of spoilt votes—the Commission stated that Kufour's lead was enough to guarantee a first round victory.

In a statement issued by the NDC, Atta Mills expressed his "concern at the reported acts of intimidation and violence against members of the NDC. (...) In the face of numerous reported cases of unprovoked intimidation, harassment and arrests of party members and candidates, he urges NDC supporters to remain calm and exercise restraint."

In the legislative ballot, the governing NPP secured at least 128 seats, followed by the NDC with 92, the Grand Coalition with four, the CPP with three and one independent.

Kufour was sworn in for his second term on Jan. 7, 2005. Alhaji Aliu Mahama retained his post as vice-president.

Political Players

The president is elected to a four-year term by popular vote.

President - Dec. 7, 2004

Parliament - Dec. 7, 2004

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