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Recap: The end of the era of the Johns as president
Ghana have had all their four past presidents under the fourth republic with John as part of their names
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The co-incidence of having had four of Ghana’s past presidents as John was more like a destiny that was insurmountable and it became a joke that if you want to become the president of Ghana then you need to change your name to John.
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Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo Addo after two unsuccessful previous attempts and at age 72 during the 2016 presidential election didn’t look like the one to end the era of the Johns under the fourth republic, but voters who are unpredictable voted massively for him to dethrone the 58 years’ incumbent president John Dramani Mahama with a margin of over 1 million votes.
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Let us do a recap of the various presidents of the republic of Ghana under the fourth republic of Ghana.
Jerry John Rawlings
He assumed power in 1979 through a coup detat to topple the I.KAcheampong government, but organised a general election which was won by Dr. Hilla Limann of the PNC. However, he again staged another coup detat in 1982 to overthrow the Limann’s. Jerry John Rawlings governed for the next ten years, before returning the nation to democratic rule in 1992.
Rawlings formed his own political party National Democratic Congress (NDC) which he was the flagbearer beating his closest competitor Adu Boahene the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
In 1996 Jerry John Rawlings retained the presidency as he defeated John Agyekum Kuffour of the NPP to rule for under four year.
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John Agyekum Kuffour
Jerry John Rawlings had finished serving two terms (eight years), so wasn’t eligible to contest as president again as enshrined in the 1992 constitution of Ghana that returned Ghana to civilian rule. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) settled on his vice president John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills as the flagbearer.
Kuffour who was the flagbearer of the largest opposition party in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), after failing in the race for the 1996 presidential election in the 2000 presidential election beat John Evan Fiifi Atta Mills to bring the NPP government to power. Ghanaians were fed up with the NDC government and they voted for change. However, it took a roundoff to enable John Agyekum Kuffour beat Atta Mills, because the NPP couldn’t obtain the 50+1% in the first round of the election.
John Agyekum Kuffour was re-elected in 2004 when he again overcame John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills who was at the time the leader of the largest opposition party (NDC).
Read more: Election 2016
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John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills
Atta Mills brought the NDC back to power in 2008, after Kuffour finished serving his two-year term (eight years).
It was a close contest between John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills and Nana Addo Danquah who contested for president in the ticket of the ruling government NPP. Akuffo-Addo led in the first round but had a little over 49%, hence it took the election into a second round and as it has been the norm, ruling government usually fall in roundoffs, so John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills was given the mandate by Ghanaians to rule the nation for the next four year. But the margin of votes that separated him from Akuffo Addo was about 40,000 which is the closest contest in the anal of Ghana’s presidential election. Even it took a third election to secure the NDC power, because Tein constituency election couldn’t come on during the roundoff due to some irregularities, so it was held after the results had been known and the both parties needed that results to be sure of victory.
John Evans Fiifi Mills ruled for three and half years, but died with just six months to end his first term in July 2012, becoming the first sitting president of Ghana to pass on.
The vice president John Dramani Mahama of Ghana continued the rest of the six months and was given the nod to contest in the ticket of the NDC in the 2012 presidential election.
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Read more: Election 2016
John Dramani Mahama
Mahama who according to him is the luckiest president of the republic of Ghana woke up as vice president on 24th July, 2012 but due to the demise of his boss Atta Mills he became the president on that faithful day.
He campaigned for just six months but managed to topple Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo Addo who was contesting for the second time in the ticket of the NPP.
The NPP raised issues of overvoting in the strongholds of the NDC and it took the Supreme Court of the nation to rule 5-4 in favour of the incumbent NDC.
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Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo Addo
The 72-year-old made history in the 2016 presidential election, after two unsuccessful attempts by beating the incumbent young energetic John Dramani Mahama at age 58 to become the oldest president of the republic of Ghana and the first person who doesn’t have John as part of his names to become president. Also for the first time in the anal of Ghana’s presidential election that an incumbent president lost power.
Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo Addo won by over 1 million margin to return the NPP to power. The Electoral Commission Chairperson Madam Charlotte Osei declared Akuffo-Addo winner on Friday 9 December, 2016 just about 52 days after the election.
But he will official assume power on 7 January, 2017 to rule for the next four years.
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