(NEW) GHANA
— Officially: Republic of Ghana.
— Seat of government: Accra / Nkran.
— Status: Democratic.
— Structure: The president is elected directly. The parliament is elected in geographical constituencies.
— Governing party: New Patriotic Party.
— Head of government: Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP, president (since 2017).
— Opposition parties: National Democratic Congress; Convention People’s Party; People’s National Convention.
— Recent history: The NPP unseated the NDC of coup leader and dictator Jerry Rawlings (1979, 1981-2001) in the 2000 elections, as John Kufuor (2001-9) won the presidency over NDC vice president John Atta Mills. The NPP then won a slim parliamentary majority after by-elections. In 2004 Kufuor was reelected, again over Atta Mills, and the NPP majority in parliament increased. A 2008 election to replace Kufuor went to a runoff between Akufo-Addo of the NPP and Atta Mills, which Atta Mills (2009-12) narrowly won. The NDC won a plurality in parliament at the same time. In 2012, Atta Mills died in office, succeeded by vice-president John Dramani Mahama. Later that year, Mahama (2012-7) was reelected over Akufo-Addo; the NDC, despite finishing slightly behind the NPP in the popular vote, also won a majority in parliament. Mahama was defeated for reelection by Akufo-Addo in 2016, and the NPP won a significant majority in parliament.
— FH: 1-2, free. Econ: 6.02 (78), flawed democracy.
— Updated: 2017 March 25.
O.T. FORD