Ghana’s 1992 elections heralded the country’s return to multiparty democratic electoral politics after more than three decades of political instability, military interventions and authoritarian rule. Successive democratic elections in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 have each been seen by domestic observers and the international community as successive improvements over the previous poll. Today, Ghana is widely viewed on the continent and beyond as a model of stability and democratic governance in Africa.
Political Overview
The fiercely contested December 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections served as an important milestone for Ghana’s democratic process. For the second time since the return of multi-party democracy, the incumbent political party presidential candidate was narrowly defeated in a runoff election, held after none of the candidates obtained the “50 percent plus one” of the popular vote constitutionally required in order to claim a first-round victory. The party primaries and the subsequent election campaigning in the lead-up to the Dec. 7 first-round election, the Dec. 28 runoff and the Tain constituency re-vote on Jan. 2 were marked with often highly acrimonious rhetoric and some instances of politically motivated violence by activists from the two largest political parties, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The high stakes of the election – which were raised further by expectations of future petroleum revenues that would be managed by the next administration – led to a tense pre-election environment. Despite that, the elections were judged to be free and fair by domestic and international election observers. The neutrality of the security services, the largely responsible coverage of the election by the local media, the steadfastness of the highly respected electoral commission in the face of often unrelenting pressure from both parties, and the critical role played by domestic election observer groups in monitoring the conduct of the vote and verifying the reported official results all helped to ensure an orderly and fair process.
The final presidential election results showed NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo obtaining 49.77 percent of the total vote, and his main challenger, Prof. John Atta Mills of the NDC, finishing with 50.23 percent of the vote. The December elections also brought historic changes to the Ghanian parliament, where for the first time since 1992 none of the represented parties held a majority. According to the final results the NPP secured 107 seats in the 228-member parliament, while the NDC claimed 114 seats.
On Jan. 7, 2009, Prof. John Atta Mills – who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2000 and 2004 – was inaugurated as Ghana’s new head of state.
Current Activities
In light of the important historical nature of Ghana’s December 2008 elections, NDI provided technical and financial assistance to the Center for Democratic Development–Ghana (CDD-Ghana), one of Ghana’s most experienced and well-respected civic organizations, to conduct a PVT of the Dec. 7 first round and Dec. 28 run-off presidential elections. NDI also provided additional technical assistance for the Jan. 2 re-vote in the Tain constituency. CDD-Ghana was the founding member of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), and its office serves as the secretariat of the CODEO organization.
Additional support to CDD-Ghana/CODEO included technical support for the use of text messaging (SMS) to communicate and rapidly transmit PVT and other election-related data via cell phones.
Past Programs
NDI has worked to strengthen the democratic process in Ghana since the 1992 election, when the Institute partnered with the Carter Center to develop a plan for the potential future conduct of parallel vote tabulation (PVT), an advanced election monitoring technique used to enhance the credibility and transparency of elections by verifying the accuracy of the tabulation process. In 1996, NDI sent an international observer delegation and assisted local civic groups monitoring that year's presidential election.
From December 1997 to October 2000, NDI implemented a three-year program to strengthen the ability of Ghana’s parliament to play an effective role in the governance process and conduct constituent outreach activities. Workshops conducted for civic groups increased their understanding of the policy making process, as well as their advocacy and lobbying skills.
Funding
NDI’s program is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the United States Agency for International Development, and a grant from the Annenberg Foundation.
Contact Information
For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:
Washington, D.C.
Gemima Neves, Senior Program Manager
(202) 728-6343
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