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Interesting facts and figures about the December 7 General Elections you didn't know
With just hours to go till the crucial polls, Pulse Ghana takes you through some interesting facts and figures you should know.
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-Ghana's entire electoral history spans 65 years. In all, the country has had 13 previous popular elections (1951, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1965*, 1969*, 1979, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
*The 1965 Elections were peculiar in that Ghana was a constitutional one-party state with only one legal political party, the ruling Convention People's Party (CPP). This made the whole process non-competitive; a mere formality. For the Presidency, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had been made life-president by the CPP, and so there was no contest, not even an intra-party one. In the parliamentary elections, only CPP candidates contested in all the 198 constituencies.
*The 1969 Elections were held under the Second Republican constitution, which instituted a Parliamentary system of governance [a dual Executive structure featuring a Head of State (President) and a Head of Government (Prime Minister)]. Dr. KA Busia automatically became Prime Minister because he was the leader of the Progress Party (PP), the party that won the elections. There was subsequently an election (indirectly through an Electoral College) to choose the President in August 1970. It was won by Justice Edward Akufo Addo.
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-There will be 275 seats of Parliament to be contested in the 2016 elections, representing 275 constituencies. Ashanti Region has the highest number of seats (47 ). The Upper West Region has the lowest(11). During Ghana's first elections in 1951, there were only 38 seats.
---The Convention People's Party (CPP) are the most successful political party in Ghana's popular electoral history with five wins (1951, 1954, 1956, 1960 and 1965). The National Democratic Congress (NDC) are the second most successful with four wins (1992, 1996, 2008 and 2012). This means the NDC are a win away from equaling the all-time record.
---There will be 28,992 polling stations across the 275 constituencies in the 2016 Elections.
---There are as many as 15,712,499 registered voters for the 2016 Elections.
---A total of 25 political parties will be contesting the 2016 General Elections across Presidential and Parliamentary.
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---According to the official timetable of the Electoral Commission (EC), the results of the 2016 Ghana General Elections will be officially announced on Friday, December 9, 2016.
---There are seven candidates contesting the 2016 Presidential Elections.
They are:
1. Ivor Kobina Greenstreet (CPP)
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2. Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings (NDP)
3. John Dramani Mahama (NDC)
4. Papa Kwesi Nduom (PPP)
5. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (NPP)
6. Edward Nasigre Mahama (PNC)
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7. Jacob Osei Yeboah (Independent)
---Among the current pool of Presidential contestants, Edward Nasigri Mahama(PNC) is the most experienced. This will be the 71-year-old medical doctor's fifth attempt at the Presidency (with previous attempts in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008). Ivor Greenstreet (CPP) and Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings (NDP) are the least experienced. This will be their first attempt each.
---Independent candidate Jacob Osei Yeboah (48) is the youngest of the seven Presidential aspirants. The NPP's Nana Akufo-Addo is the oldest at 72.
---The 2016 Elections will be the first in Ghana's history to feature a disabled presidential candidate: Ivor Kobina Greenstreet of the CPP.
--The 2016 Elections will all be the first in Ghana's history to feature a female presidential candidate: Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
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---This will be the first election in Ghana's fourth Republic not to be supervised by Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan. The 71-year-old helmed the Ghana Electoral Commission as chairman from its formation in 1993, supervising the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 elections before retiring. He was replaced by 47-year-old Madam Charlotte Osei, who will be making her electoral debut in 2016.
---The original name of Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, the PPP's Presidential candidate, is Joseph Hubster York Jnr, while Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPPwas once known as William Akufo-Addo.
---Should the NDC, who have been in power since 2009, win the 2016 General Elections, they would extend their term to 12 years, which would be the second-longest consecutive tenure of any democratically elected government in Ghana's history. The CPP are the record holders for longest consecutive tenure of a democratically elected Ghanaian government, staying in power for 15 years between 1951 and 1966.
---Should an opposition party win, it will be the country's third successful change of government; the transfer of power from the ruling party to the opposition party.
---Any other winner of the 2016 Presidential Elections apart from the incumbent John Mahama, would become the 7th man to be democraticallyelected as Ghana Head of State since independence.
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Previous ones are:
1. Kwame Nkrumah (1960),
2. Hilla Limann (1979)
3. JJ Rawlings (1992, 1996)
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4. JA Kufuor (2000, 2004)
5. JEA Mills (2008)
6. John Mahama (2012)
Counting non-democratic Heads of State (either military or interim or indirectly elected leaders), a new winner of the 2016 elections would be the 13th man to be Ghanaian Head of State.
---A win for Nana Akufo Addo would represent the first time father and son have been President of Ghana. Nana's father, Justice Edward Akufo Addo, was the President of Ghana from 31st August 1970 to 13th January 1972. He was elected by an electoral college (not popular/democratic) and was only a ceremonial executive under the Second Republican constitution, which instituted a Parliamentary system of governance (the Prime Minister Dr. Busia had more administrative powers).
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---Again, a win for Nana Akufo-Addo, who is 72 years old, would make him Ghana's oldest democratically elected Head of State since independence. The youngest democratically elected Ghana Head of State was Dr Hilla Limann, who was 44 years old when he was elected in 1979.
*Among the 12 overall Heads of State (that is, counting non-democratic Heads as well) Ghana has had so far since independence, the youngest has been Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, who was 31 years old when he seized power through a coup in June 1979.
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