In the recently concluded 2024 Ghanian polls, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the presidency and gained the most seats in parliament. Former President John Mahama of the NDC won the presidency, obtaining 56.3% of the votes. History was made during the presidential election. Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Mr Mahama's running mate, became the country's first female Vice president-elect.
The following analysis contains information available as of 23 December 2024. It will be updated as additional data becomes available.
On 7 December 2024, over 18 million Ghanaians gathered to elect the new President of the Republic of Ghana and its next legislature. In the presidential elections, 12 candidates sought the presidency.In the parliamentary polls, 801 nominated candidates contested for the 276 seats in the legislature.Former President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won with a majority of 56.3% of the votes eliminating the need for a run-off. Alongside his victory was the new vice president-elect, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who became Ghana's first female vice president.
The NDC secured 184 of the 276 in parliament closely followed by the former ruling party, the National Patriotic Party (NPP) with 88 seats and the remaining 4 held by independent candidates.
The Ghanaian elections were largely peaceful and conducted fairly and with a smooth handover from Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to the President-elect John Mahama. However, there were reports of isolated incidents of violence on election day.On December 21, 2024, the parliamentary election results were recompiled after the Electoral Commission annulled results in nine constituencies due to disruptions in the collation process. Following the re-collation, five of the nine seats were declared in favor of the NPP. This outcome faced strong opposition from the NDC, which accused Ghana’s Electoral Commission of illegal and manipulated practices.
Women’s Political Representation
In 2024 polls, women comprised 9,689,980 of the 18,774,159 registered voters.Of the 801 candidates vying for seats in parliament, 119 were women.There was no female candidate in the final list of 12 who competed for the Presidency. There were three female running mates in the Presidential elections; Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang; Vice Presidential Candidate of John Mahama, Elizabeth Sam; Vice Presidential candidate of Kofi Akpaloo,and Dr. Maryam Esaka Kriesie, Vice Presidential Candidate of Nana Kwame Bediako.
Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang who is currently the Vice President-elect and the first female Vice President of Ghana had previously served as Ghana's Minister of Education during President-elect John Mahama’s 2013 - 2017 tenure. She was also the first woman to hold the position of Vice-Chancellor in Ghana when she became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
As of 1 December 2024, women occupied only 40 out of 275 (14.5%) seats in Ghana’s parliament.A new constituency - Guan - was introduced in 2023 and contested for the first time during the recently concluded 2024 general elections, increasing the total number of parliamentary seats from 275 to 276. Only 29 of these 40 women were supported by their parties to contest for reelection into the 2025 parliament.
As of 23 December 2024, the official list of members of the new parliament of the Republic of Ghana is yet to be released. MEWC will update the analysis once gender-disaggregated data and other relevant information becomes available.
In the previous cabinet, 5 (21%) of the 24 ministers were women. The female ministers are:
- Ms Lydia Seyram Alhassan, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources
- Ms Fatimatu Abubakar, Minister of Information
- Ms Ophelia Mensah Hayford, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation
- Ms Abena Osei Asare, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance
- Ms Darkoa Newman, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection
To encourage inclusive participation of marginalized groups in this election, the Electoral Commission of Ghana provided a 25% reduction in filing fees for women and persons with disabilities contesting in the presidential and parliamentary elections; from 100,000 Ghanaian cedis to 75,000 Ghanaian cedis for presidential candidates and from 10,000 Ghanaian cedis to 7,500 Ghanaian cedis for parliamentary candidates. Similarly, since 2015, the NDC has implemented a 50% subsidy for women contesting the primaries. Women's advocacy organizations, including the African Women Leaders Network, partnered with the women’s wings of various political parties to encourage collective support for female candidates during the general elections.
In addition to signing and ratifying the Maputo Protocol, Ghana has taken several steps to uphold women’s rights through national legislature and policies. Under the Children’s Act 1998, the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 years for both boys and girls and with no exception.The Criminal Code 1960 penalises offenses including rape and indecent assault. Furthermore, the National Domestic Violence Act 2007 provides protections for victims of domestic violence, including sexual abuse, physical abuse, sexual harassment, emotional and psychological abuse, and economic abuse.It also mandates the creation of a Victims of Domestic Violence Support Fund. Women in Ghana are also privy to the same rights as men to sign contracts, open bank accounts, register businesses and have equal property inheritance rights.
Concerning women’s political rights, in September 2024, Ghana’s parliament passed the Affirmative Action Act 2024. The Act stipulates that political parties adhere to a 30% representation quota for women. However, because the bill was passed late, it was not implemented during the 2024 general elections as candidate lists had long been released.
Conclusion
Former President John Mahama, who served as Ghana's President from July 24, 2012, to January 7, 2017, won the 2024 Presidential election in the Republic of Ghana, securing 56.3% of the total votes. Alongside his win is the Ghana’s first female Vice President, H.E. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
Ahead of the elections, Ghana’s parliament also passed the Affirmative Action Bill 2024 stipulating that political parties uphold a 30% representation quota for women in candidate lists. In the previous parliament, women held only 40 of the 275 seats and only 29 were able to contest for reelection. With the introduction of the new bill, there is hope that their representation will see a significant increase in both the new parliament and cabinet.