Ghana's 11 presidential elections since 1957and President Elects

Ghana has since 1957 held 11 presidential elections, with the last one being the 2020 election. Since the coming into force of the country’s 1992 constitution. No president can rule for more than 8 years. This means a president can only serve two terms in Ghana per the laws of the country.

WHAT SIS THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A PRESIDENT IN GHANA?

Chapter 8, Article 62 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana details the qualifications of a Presidential Candidate with regards to citizenship, age and eligibility as a Member of Parliament (MP)—except disqualified as MP based on conviction of crime, incompetence and under death or imprisonment sentence specified in Article 94.

It states:

A person shall not be qualified for election as the President of Ghana unless—

(a) he is a citizen of Ghana by birth;

(b) he has attained the age of forty years; and

(c) he is a person who is otherwise qualified to be elected a Member of Parliament, except that the disqualifications set out in paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of clause (2) of article 94 of this Constitution shall not be removed, in respect of any such person, by a presidential pardon or by the lapse of time as provided for in clause (5) of that article.

Ghana’s 11 Presidents from 1957-2020

Ghana’s 1st President-Elect

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first and most historic winner of the presidential election in Ghana, which led to Ghana’s official independence on 6th March 1957 from the British. Nkrumah had internal and external enemies, leading to his overthrow in 1966 after serving as president of Ghana for six years.

Ghana’s 2nd President-Elect

In 1969, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia became the president of Ghana under the Second Republic. The Progress Party (PP) won the election and formed the government.

Ghana’s 3rd President-Elect

Ghana’s third democratically elected government had Dr. Hilla Limann of the People’s National Party (PNP) as president in 1979.

Ghana’s four presidents-elect

1992 saw the birth of Ghana’s 4th republic when Jerry John Rawlings of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the presidential elections. He was re-elected in 1996 to serve another 4 years and 8 years in total.

Ghana’s 5th President-Elect

John Agyekum Kufuor was Ghana’s 5th President, elected through democratic means in the year 2000. He won the election with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). He was re-elected in 2004 and served another 4 years until 2008

Ghana’s 6th President-Elect

Ghanaians elected John Evans Atta Mills as their 6th democratically elected leader after a keenly contested election that went into a run-off in 2008. The NDC beat the NPP in that election. However, John Evans Atta Mills passed on while serving his first term in office.

Ghana’s 7th President-Elect

John Dramani Mahama took over the leadership of Ghana after the sudden death of John Evans Atta Mills. John Mahama later won the next crucial election with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and formed the next government. His victory was fiercely contested by then NPP presidential candidate Nana Addo and his vice presidential candidate, Dr. Bawumia.

READ: Mahama’s Speech At NDC 2024 Manifesto Launch

Ghana’s 8th President-Elect

The current president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is Ghana’s 8th democratically elected president. He won his first election in 2016 and then was re-elected in 2020. He is expected to hand over power to the candidate who will win the 2024 election, which is scheduled for December 7th, 2024.

READ: Nana Addo to Commission National Cathedral on 6th March, 2024?

This table covers the key presidential elections since Ghana gained independence in 1957.

A table detailing all presidential elections held in Ghana since independence in 1957, including the winner (president-elect), their political party, and the number of years they ruled,.

Year	Election	President-Elect	Political Party	Years Ruled
1960	First Presidential Election	Dr. Kwame Nkrumah	Convention People’s Party (CPP)	6 years (1960-1966)
1969	Second Republic Election	Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia	Progress Party (PP)	2 years (1969-1972)
1979	Third Republic Election	Dr. Hilla Limann	People’s National Party (PNP)	2 years (1979-1981)
1992	Fourth Republic Election	Jerry John Rawlings	National Democratic Congress (NDC)	8 years (1993-2001)
1996	Fourth Republic Election	Jerry John Rawlings	National Democratic Congress (NDC)	8 years (1993-2001)
2000	Fourth Republic Election	John Agyekum Kufuor	New Patriotic Party (NPP)	8 years (2001-2009)
2004	Fourth Republic Election	John Agyekum Kufuor	New Patriotic Party (NPP)	8 years (2001-2009)
2008	Fourth Republic Election	John Evans Atta Mills	National Democratic Congress (NDC)	3 years (2009-2012)
2012	Fourth Republic Election	John Dramani Mahama	National Democratic Congress (NDC)	4 years (2012-2017)
2016	Fourth Republic Election	Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo	New Patriotic Party (NPP)	4 years (2017-2020)
2020	Fourth Republic Election	Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo	New Patriotic Party (NPP)	3 years (2020-Present)*

The 11 elections in Ghana have produced 8 different presidents.

Although Ghana has had some military rules, which we will look at in another publication, the data below shows all the 8 leaders who were elected legitimately by the power of the thumb from 1957 to 2020.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (1960)
Kofi Abrefa Busia (1969)
Dr. Hilla Limann (1979)
Jerry John Rawlings (1992, 1996)
John Agyekum Kufuor (2000, 2004)
John Evans Atta Mills (2008)
John Dramani Mahama (2012)
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (2016, 2020)

Since Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills, John Dramani Mahama, and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo each served as president following more than one election, they are counted as part of the total.

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