(Bloomberg) -- Political power in Ghana has rotated between two parties for more than three decades. That looks almost certain to continue after Saturday’s elections.
Opinion polls show former President John Mahama, currently the leader of the main opposition party, reclaiming the top post in the first round. His main rival is Mahamudu Bawumia, currently the deputy president and the ruling party’s candidate.
High living costs, inflation and borrowing costs have been the key issues for voters heading into the election. The country has also been reeling in the aftermath of a debt crisis that saw the nation default on its loans in late 2022 and secure a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
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Voting is scheduled to run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, and the first tallies will likely be released a few hours thereafter. Final results are expected on Dec. 9 and the new president is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan. 7.
Here’s a rundown on the two main candidates and what they are promising:
John Mahama, 66
Party: National Democratic Congress
Share of the vote in the last presidential elections in 2020: 47%
Support among 2,623 respondents in a November opinion poll by Global InfoAnalytics: 52%
The lowdown: Mahama studied history and communications in Ghana, and obtained a postgraduate degree in social psychology in Russia in 1988. He worked as a public relations professional prior to becoming a lawmaker in 1997. He was appointed deputy communications minister that year and served as communications minister from 1998 to 2001.
Mahama was named as President John Evans Atta Mills’ deputy in 2009 and succeeded him in July 2012 when Mills died in office. He won elections that were held five months later, but finished second to Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2016 vote.
Key pledges:
- The terms of the bailout program Ghana agreed with the IMF will be renegotiated to smooth out debt payments and reduce the tax burden on corporates, while the government will begin repaying its loans that were restructured in October.
- A private-sector-led $10 billion infrastructure investment program will be initiated to drive economic growth, particularly in the construction, petrochemical and mining industries.
- Select businesses will be encouraged to work around the clock.
- Economic stability will be prioritized, with the government exercising fiscal discipline and adopting policies to curb inflation and currency depreciation, to create a conducive environment to attract investment.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, 61
Party: New Patriotic Party
Share of the 2020 vote: Didn’t compete
Support in the Global InfoAnalytics poll: 40.5%
The lowdown: Bawumia obtained an economics degree from Buckingham University and Oxford University in the UK, and was awarded an economics doctorate from Canada’s Simon Fraser University in 1995. He served as deputy governor of Ghana’s central bank from 2006 to 2008 and as resident representative of the African Development Bank in Zimbabwe in 2011.
He ran as the NPP’s vice-presidential candidate on Akufo-Addo’s ticket in the 2008 and 2012 elections, but lost both contests. Akufo-Addo named Bawumia as his deputy after his victory in the 2016 vote.
Key pledges:
- Procurement processes will be improved with a view toward saving the state 30 billion cedis ($2 billion) a year.
- Private-sector support will be enlisted to develop infrastructure projects.
- An average economic growth rate of 6% will be targeted over the next four years by bolstering the agriculture and mining industries, and increasing support for small- and medium-sized businesses.
- The executive will be limited to a maximum of 50 ministers and deputies.
- Government spending in any given year won’t be allowed to exceed 105% of the revenue it collected in the prior 12 months.
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