Africa’s multi-party democratic calendar has been extremely busy in 2024. In all, 19 African countries were scheduled to hold democratic elections this year. Some of them including Mali, Burkina-Faso and South Sudan got postponed for different reasons. Many others were successfully conducted across the continent including Comoros, Senegal, Chad, South Africa, Mauritius, Rwanda, Algeria, Tunisia, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, and Ghana.

In Senegal, a young opposition politician came out of prison to win power and form a new government. In South Africa, the ruling ANC lost its majority rule for the first time since the end of apartheid and ended up sharing power with its political rivals. Namibia elected their first female President since their independence. And Ghana made history with their first female vice President.

Ghana’s elections – presidential and parliamentary - were held on December 7 2024 and represented the 9^th election of the 4^th republic starting in 1992. The outcome of this year’s election generally reflected the 8-year cycle trend since 1992 when the duopoly of the Centre-left National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Centre-right New Patriotic Party (NPP) was formed. Either of the two major political parties, starting with the NDC, have consecutively run the country for 8 years each time they assume power before losing and handing over to their opponent.

 In 2012, President Evans Atta Mills of the NDC died in office during his first term. He was succeeded by his vice president John Mahama who run the West African democratic oasis for 3 months before winning the 2012 elections to do a first term for himself and a second term for his party.  John Mahama’s defeat in the 2016 elections meant that the 8-year cycle for every ruling party was firmly established in the Ghanaian democratic culture. But it also meant that John Mahama could always return from opposition for a second term as President.

John Mahama’s re-election in 2024 is unprecedented in Ghanaian political history as he represents the only former president to be voted out and brought back to power by the same electorate. Coincidentally, we Americans earlier in November voted back former president Donald Trump as president after removing him from office 4 years ago.

Like President Trump, John Mahama received a massive endorsement from the same people who took him out of office primarily because the governments that replaced them did not do as expected by the people. A sweeping and decisive victory both at the presidential and parliamentary polls leading to a second term for President John Mahama therefore comes with a huge responsibility to put together a competent team to govern Ghana and produce better results than his predecessor.

Most importantly, this sweeping victory for John Mahama and the NDC in 2024 reveals a few things to political observers like some of us.

 First, it reveals that the people of Ghana are totally and utterly fed up with the NPP government and what they stood for over the period of 8 years. They could not take it any longer. That sentiment is not different from the year 2000, 2008 and 2016. The only difference is the margin of victory and the winner being a former President in 2024.

Secondly, the economic hardships on the people had reached a crescendo in terms of what they were going through and the people rightly sought change and greater equity through the ballot box.

Thirdly, the same number of people who voted for John Mahama in previous elections still voted for him in 2024 which means they still have confidence in him and his party to bring about the change they seek.

Again, 7.8 million Ghanaian voters did not vote for any candidate in 2024. What these people are simply saying is that they do not want the NPP to remain in power. And they’re happy to see change. They chose to wait and see. This sentiment of political apathy in the 2024 elections is basically questioning the whole credibility of politics in general in the West Africa nation noted for a stable and flourishing democracy.

 This presents a golden opportunity for President John Mahama to go about his change agenda, to bring about greater social equity, to care more about the poorest segments of the people, to give greater transparency for what is going on in terms of the system, to deal with the excesses of the system and make things work in a way that restores the credibility of Ghanaian politics for the greater good of the masses who lost hope in the past 8 years and remained on the fences in remarkable protest.

 But such a restoration of credibility to Ghanaian politics can only take place within the right political structures. John Mahama in his final campaign rally spoke about recruiting fewer ministers in his government as the first step to restoring credibility to the governing regime. Ghanaians may not expect him to stick to 60 ministers as promised but they will surely see the importance of the principle and accept that he has taken Ghana from a bad place and hoping to bring about change in the near future will require some proper structures.

To set up these proper government structures requires strength in terms of the man power available to John Mahama and the new NDC government. The outgoing NPP government under President Nana Akufo Addo said that they had the men and the intellect to get things done but clearly the Ghanaian people felt that was empty rhetoric. In the end, they demonstrated that very clearly in their voting pattern on December 7.

The NDC has the right people, no doubt about it. They have not just the right men but also the women capable of restoring credibility to governance in the country. And a strong chief of staff is so fundamental in the scheme of management and control of government machinery. This is the reason why that position is usually the first one to be announced by every incoming President.

The best person on my mind administratively, who worked in the last NDC government without any scandal attached to their name that some of us can think of is Dr. valerie Sawyerr. She is a former deputy chief of staff who clearly commands the respect of the rank and file of the NDC party and who took absolute control of the NDC campaign machinery in 2024.

She has unmatched integrity in the eyes of the diplomatic and business communities as well as the Ghanaian public and would make the best chief of staff to restore government credibility locally and bilaterally. She has the wherewithal to supervise and bring the cabinet under her utter control.  I am sure there many stalwarts in the party capable of holding the position of chief of staff but she stands out from the rest of them from where I sit.

Parliament is less challenging in terms of strong structures because of the two thirds NDC majority in the 9^th parliament. Still the ruling party needs a speaker who can lead serious constitutional reforms and take oversight of government business. Many have suggested that the NDC does not need to change speaker Alban Bagbin since he is an NDC man. However, some of us feel that the people would prefer new faces in parliamentary leadership to restore public confidence in the legislature. A young but experienced MP and lawyer such as Haruna Iddrisu, the former minority leader, could make a fine speaker in the 9^th parliament.

It will be very important for President John Mahama, in line with his principle of a lean government, to amalgamate many of the ministries. For example, education, youth and sports should be put together under one ministry. Railways, roads, highways and aviation should all come under the transport ministry. Creative arts, chieftaincy and culture also ought to be under one ministry. Water, sanitation, works and housing need not separated. Information and communication can come together too.

Hopefully, the crucial ministry of finance will receive the best attention from President John Mahama since the economy brought down the last NPP government. It may be useful for former finance minister Seth Tekper to be kept far away from the finance ministry because he evokes negative nostalgic memories from the last NDC government of John Mahama. Maybe a young and experienced Dr. Ato Forson will serve the people better in that department.

Besides the bad economy, corruption brought down the NPP government. That is why the message of Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) from the NDC campaign resonated with the voters in 2024. Probity and accountability from old government officials is on the top of the minds of many Ghanaians. But this will not only require a strong figure head at the national security ministry and secretariat, it will also require a determined attorney-general and minister of Justice.

Names such as Tony Lithur, Dominic Ayine, Mahama Ayariga, Kojoga Adawudu have come up for the justice ministry. Any of them may do a great job in prosecuting crime. However, thorough investigations by the police and national security will require people of experience and integrity. Whosoever the NDC appoints to coordinate national security will be very crucial in ensuring probity and accountability. Will the new government reshuffle the judiciary or will it be business as usual?

Overall, President John Mahama and the NDC promised the Ghanaian people a reset agenda. The team the president puts together in the new regime will indicate whether or not he is truly prepared for a reset. A resurfacing of a team of old faces devoid of integrity and perceived to be arrogant and corrupt by the people and the international community especially of those who sent NDC into opposition in 2016, will not indicate a reset agenda for Ghana. And that could spell political doom for the social democrats now in charge of the affairs of the West African nation in the next four years.

A reset must encompass all sectors of government machinery but most especially, it must reflect in the outlook and perceived aura around the new team in charge of executive power for the next four years. Will President John Mahama rise to the occasion on laying the right foundational structures for the take off of his last term in office? This is the curiosity of the people of Ghana, the diplomatic community, the geopolitical and bilateral partners of Ghana. Only time will tell.

Written by Jack Sullivan, December 16 2024