Bawumia’s concesssion: A victory for Ghana’s electorate
The landmark event, which was instantly regarded as the most significant element of the outcome of recent presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana, was the concession of defeat by the Vice President of the nation, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, which he declared in a dignified speech barely 15 hours after voting ended.
The Electoral Commission insisted that it would not formally declare results until all its regulatory procedures had been completed. It insisted on waiting for all the results to be endorsed and certified, which it said could take up to 72 hours, but Dr Bawumia’s concession impressed the electorate and helped to alleviate public tension after a highly competitive exercise.
In just under 48 hours after the closure of the polls the head of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, formally announced John Dramani Mahama’s unprecedented victory.
The figures she declared indicated that his election was a historic representation of the popular will. The fact that even without results from nine constituencies where political disorder had aborted the exercise Mahama’s majority exceeded one point six million votes proved that his election was massively popular, as his opponent had indicated in his concession speech.
Nigeria’s former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, whose example from 2015 the Ghanaian Vice President could be said to have followed, was actually in Ghana representing the prestigious Council of West African Elders supported by his foundation.
Most international observers expressed their support for the early concession within a few hours after it was made and thus indicated that Ghana’s electorate had achieved universal credibility as upholders of the tradition of democratic choice, even without official endorsement.
The exchange of polite sentiments between adversaries was also enhanced when the President-elect responded to the Vice President’s gesture by referring to him as his “brother” and thanking him for his magnanimity, in spite of the fact that the partisan dialogue during the campaign had been extremely acrimonious.
President Mahama’s eventual acceptance address was presented shortly after Mrs Mensa’s official declaration.
He advocated fraternal solidarity and the consolidation of patriotic values as his response to the public show of support for his appeal to the electorate for his unprecedented return to office.
- BY LINDSAY BARRETT