Politics of Ghana: Difference between revisions

Politics of Ghana takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ghana is both head of state and head of government, and of a two party system. The seat of government is at Golden Jubilee House. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and Parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

The constitution that established the Fourth Republic provided a basic charter for republican democratic government. It declares Ghana to be a unitary republic with sovereignty residing in the Ghanaian people. Intended to prevent future coups, dictatorial government, and one-party states, it is designed to establish the concept of powersharing. The document reflects lessons learned from the abrogated constitutions of 1957, 1960,69, and 1979, and incorporates provisions and institutions drawn from British and American constitutional models. One controversial provision of the Constitution indemnifies members and appointees of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) from liability for any official act or omission during the years of PNDC rule. The Constitution calls for a system of checks and balances, with power shared between a president, a unicameral parliament, a council of state, and an independent judiciary.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Ghana a "flawed democracy" in 2020.

Executive branch

Main office-holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Nana Akufo-Addo	New Patriotic Party	7 January 2017
Vice-President	Mahamudu Bawumia	New Patriotic Party	7 January 2017

Nana Akufo-Addo is established in the Office of the Presidency, together with his Council of State. The president is head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. He also appoints the vice president. According to the Constitution, more than half of the presidentially appointed ministers of state must be appointed from among members of Parliament.

The outcome of the December 2012 elections, in which John Dramani Mahama was declared President by the Ghana Electoral Commission, was challenged by Nana Akufo-Addo, Mahamudu Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey at the Supreme Court of Ghana, which came out with the verdict that Mahama legally won the 2012 presidential election

This precedent which was set by Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP party in 2012 was followed by John Dramani Mahama the then president, and now opposition leader and the NDC party when they petition the Highest Court of the Land to overturn the election victory of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP party on the grounds that the victory was illegal.

Legislative branch

Legislative functions are vested in Parliament, which consists of a unicameral 275-member body plus the Speaker. To become law, legislation must have the assent of the president, who has a qualified veto over all bills except those to which a vote of urgency is attached.

Members are elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies by simple plurality vote. As it is predicted by Duverger's law, the voting system has encouraged Ghanaian politics into a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. Elections have been held every four years since 1992. Presidential and parliamentary elections are held alongside each other, generally on 7 December.

Political parties and elections

Main articles: List of political parties in Ghana and Elections in Ghana

Presidential elections

Main article: 2020 Ghanaian general election

Main article: 2016 Ghanaian general election

Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Nana Akufo-Addo	Mahamudu Bawumia	New Patriotic Party	6,730,587	51.30
	John Mahama	Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang	National Democratic Congress	6,213,182	47.36
	Christian Kwabena Andrews	Abu Grant Lukeman	Ghana Union Movement	105,548	0.80
	Ivor Greenstreet	Emmanuel Bobobe	Convention People's Party	12,200	0.09
	David Apasera	Divine Ayivor	People's National Convention	10,882	0.08
	Asiedu Walker	Jacob Osei Yeboah	Independent	9,704	0.07
	Kofi Akpaloo	Margaret Obrine Sarfo	Liberal Party of Ghana	7,683	0.06
	Hassan Ayariga	Frank Yaw Kuadey	All People's Congress	7,138	0.05
	Brigitte Dzogbenuku	Kofi Asamoah-Siaw	Progressive People's Party	6,849	0.05
	Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings	Peter Tennyson Asamoah	National Democratic Party	6,549	0.05
	Akua Donkor	Ernest Adakabre Frimpong Manso	Ghana Freedom Party	5,574	0.04
	Henry Herbert Lartey	Andy Bampoe-Sekyi	Great Consolidated Popular Party	3,564	0.03
Total				13,119,460	100.00
Valid votes				13,119,460	97.67
Invalid/blank votes				313,397	2.33
Total votes				13,432,857	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				17,027,941	78.89
Source: Ghana Web

Poll source	Date	Sample size	Undecided	Mahama NDC	Akufo-Addo NPP	Nduom PPP	Greenstreet CPP	Other candidates	Notes
Restart International	5 December 2016	2,000		54.7%	43.7%
Ben Ephson	28 November 2016	N/A		52.4%	45.9%	1.7%			2% margin of error
Ben Ephson	October 2016	N/A		50.8%	47.5%	1.7%			2% margin of error
Goodman AMC	August 2016	2,184	N/A	48%	45%	7%	0%		2.1% margin of error
Goodman AMC	June 2016	1,644	N/A	44%	49%	6%	1%		2.3% margin of error
Goodman AMC	April 2016	1,216	N/A	32%	65%	3%	0%

Parliamentary elections

Main article: 2020 Ghanaian general election

Main article: 2016 Ghanaian general election

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	New Patriotic Party	6,651,028	50.42	137	–32
	National Democratic Congress	6,094,478	46.20	137	+31
	Ghana Union Movement	60,840	0.46	0	New
	People's National Convention	29,211	0.22	0	0
	Progressive People's Party	24,334	0.18	0	0
	Convention People's Party	11,105	0.08	0	0
	Liberal Party of Ghana	7,521	0.06	0	New
	National Democratic Party	6,421	0.05	0	0
	Great Consolidated Popular Party	1,976	0.01	0	0
	United Progressive Party	1,934	0.01	0	0
	All People's Congress	1,214	0.01	0	0
	Independents	301,996	2.29	1	+1
Total		13,192,058	100.00	275	0
Registered voters/turnout		17,027,655	–
Source: ghanaweb.com EC

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	New Patriotic Party	5,661,248	52.48	169	+47
	National Democratic Congress	4,560,491	42.28	106	–42
	Progressive People's Party	186,741	1.73	0	0
	Convention People's Party	69,346	0.64	0	–1
	People's National Convention	42,236	0.39	0	–1
	National Democratic Party	19,450	0.18	0	0
	All People's Congress	2,527	0.02	0	New
	Great Consolidated Popular Party	1,368	0.01	0	0
	United Front Party	896	0.01	0	0
	Democratic People's Party	867	0.01	0	0
	United Progressive Party	430	0.00	0	New
	Independents	241,884	2.24	0	–3
Total		10,787,484	100.00	275	0
Valid votes		10,787,484	98.98
Invalid/blank votes		111,137	1.02
Total votes		10,898,621	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		15,639,690	69.69
Source: Election Passport

Recent political developments

Nana Akufo-Addo, the ruling party candidate, was defeated in a very close election by John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) following the Ghanaian presidential election, 2008. Mills died of natural causes and was succeeded by vice-president John Dramani Mahama on 24 July 2012.

Following the Ghanaian presidential election, 2012, John Dramani Mahama became President-elect and was inaugurated on 7 January 2013. Ghana was a stable democracy.

As a result of the Ghanaian presidential election, 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo became President-elect and was inaugurated as the fifth President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana and eighth President of Ghana on 7 January 2017.

Judicial branch

Main article: Judiciary of Ghana

Supreme Court of Ghana.

The structure and the power of the judiciary are independent of the two other branches of government. The Judiciary of Ghana is responsible for interpreting,applying and enforcing the laws of Ghana, and exist to settle legal conflicts fairly and in a more competent way. The Supreme Court of Ghana has broad powers of judicial review. It is authorized by the Constitution to rule on the constitutionality of any legislation or executive action at the request of any aggrieved citizen. The hierarchy of courts derives largely from British juridical forms. The courts have jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters. They include the Superior Courts of Judicature, established under the 1992 Constitution, and the Inferior Courts, established by Parliament. The Superior Courts are, from highest to lowest, the Supreme Court of Ghana, the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the ten Regional Tribunals. The Inferior Courts, since the Courts Act 2002, include the Circuit Courts, the Magistrate Courts, and special courts such as the Juvenile Courts.

In 2007, Georgina Wood became the first ever female chief justice of the Ghanaian Supreme Court.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Ghana

Ghana is divided into sixteen regions: Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, Oti Region, Western North Region, North East Region, Ahafo Region, Savannah Region, Bono East Region and Western Region.

International organization participation

Ghana is member of ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

See also

• Government of Ghana

External links

• Global Integrity Report: Ghana has information on Ghana's anti-corruption efforts*Template:Curlie
• Latest Political News From Ghana