Ghana’s New Patriotic Party, NPP, the ruling party had on Saturday, November 4, selected Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as its candidate for the forthcoming December 2024 presidential election, setting up a contest with former president John Mahama.
Bawumia is a 60-year-old economist and former central banker. He has served as the second-in-command and the face of economic policy for the duration of Nana Addo Akufo-Addo’s presidency– whom is due to step down in January 2025 after serving the constitutionally required eight years.
Even though Ghana’s ruling parties are often regarded as favourites to win presidential races, no party has ever won the elections for more than two consecutive terms.
Potential voters might also question Bawumia’s track record as the West African country grapples to emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation.
The oil, gold and cocoa-producing nation has had to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a $ 3 billion bailout fund after its already weakened finances collapsed under the economic fallout from COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“With Bawumia as the vice (president), many had expected that the economy would have improved especially as he is the current chair of the economic management team, however not much has been achieved,” Said Boakye, a researcher at Ghana’s Institute for Fiscal Studies had revealed.
Bawumia’s selection is coming as the NPP is pushing for a pronounced diversity.
Bawumia had been the first Muslim to lead a major party in Ghana since 1992. He had also been the first person outside the dominant Akan-speaking ethnic group to lead the NPP.
