Why 2020 Ghana General Elections Is The Best So Far

Ghana's 2020 general election has been touted by many as the most peaceful, credible, and arguably the election the country has ever witnessed so far - characterized by a far lesser electoral violence and malpractices.

We at kumasiblogger.com bring you five reasons we think this election is the best Ghana has had.

1. Both NDC and NPP have won 4 elections each

The two major political parties, namely National Democratic Congress(NDC) and the New Patriotic Party(NPP), have both won 4 elections each in this fourth republic.

NDC have won 1992, 1996, 2008, and 2012 elections while their main rivals NPP have also come victorious in 2000, 2004, 2016 and the just ended 2020 elections which now have brought the two parties at par with the number of elections won so far.

2. The Highest number of female MPs-elect

Female representation in Ghana's legislature hasn't been that impressive as we've fallen short of the 30 percent representation set by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Forty female MPs have been elected to the 8th parliament of this republic which represents 14.5% of the total MPs elected. This figure is the highest so far in this fourth republic, an increase in the 2016 representation. Below is the number of female MPs elected and the percentage they represent since 1992.

• 1992 - 16/200 - 8%
• 1996 - 18/200 - 9%
• 2000 - 19/200 - 9.5%
• 2004 - 24/230 - 10.4%
• 2008 - 19/230 - 8.3%
• 2012 - 29/275 - 10.5%
• 2016 - 35*/275 - 12.72%
• 2020 - 40/275 - 14.5%

NB: In the 2016 parliamentary elections, 35 women were elected but Hon. Lydia Alhasan joined to make the numbers 36 through a by-election in 2019

3. High Voter turn-out

This election recorded a whopping 79% voter turnout as against the 68.2% from the 2016 presidential elections.

The total registered voters in 2016 was 15,712,499 and of which 10,781,917 cast their votes which represented 68.2% while 13,434,574 out of the 17,027,641 registered voters cast their votes in the 2020 presidential elections which also represents 79% which is the third-best after 2004 (85.6%) and 2012 (79.43%)

4.Almost the same MP seats for both NDC and NPP

Ghana's 8th parliament will be very interesting and is anticipated to be very competitive since both NDC and NPP are likely to get an equal number of legislators.

Current figures issued by the Electoral Commission indicates the NPP has 137 MPs while NDC has 136 MPs with 1 independent MP and 1 constituency result being outstanding.

This is the closest in this current republic.

5. Most female presidential candidates

Women's involvement in our national politics is undisputed and 2020 has presented us with yet another milepost with 3 female presidential candidates.

Among these gallant women are Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, Brigitte Dzogbenuku and Akua Donkor.

Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings contested on the ticket of the National Democratic Party (NDP) for the second time. She appeared on the ballot paper for the first time in 2016 after a failed attempt in 2012.

Nana Konadu, the wife of late former president Jerry John Rawlings, served as the first lady from 1993 to 2001. Before forming her own party in 2012, she was the first vice-chairperson of the then ruling party NDC.

Brigitte Dzogbenuku also represented the Progressive People's Party (PPP) for the very first time after serving as a running mate to the 2016 flag bearer of PPP, Papa Kwesi Nduom in 2016.

Madam Akua Donkor also got her chance after failed attempts in 2012 and 2016. The Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) founder and leader has served as an assembly member in the Kwabre East Municipality in Ashanti Region.