Election 2020: A golden opportunity for Ghanaians to vote based on past performance of presidential aspirants

Come December 2020, Ghanaians would go to the polls to elect a new government.

As usual, the contest is between the governing new patriotic party (NPP), and the opposition national democratic congress party (the NDC).

The fundamental question that most citizens keep reflecting on prior to the election is will the incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo retain power or the former president, John Mahama is going to pull a surprise comeback?

Interestingly, the answer depends on how Ghanaians vote on the election day. This then leads to an intriguing question whether Ghanaians will make decisions based on common metrics?

Elections in Ghana, in most cases suffer from information asymmetry, and lack a common past performance metrics upon which electorate can assess candidates before casting their vote. In the 1992 presidential election, former president J. J. Rawlings had familiarity advantage over Prof. Albert Adu-Boahen since the former had deeds in the Ghanaian society as the Chairman of the PNDC, from which the NDC emanated.

In the 1996, presidential election too, former president J. J. Rawlings had incumbency advantage over former President J. A. Kufour following his first term record as president. But the 2000 presidential election was quite different since both former president Kufour and former president, the late Prof. J. E. Mills had no past records as former president.

Despite both candidates not having past records as former presidents, the election pendulum tilted against Prof Mills due to his association with former President Rawlings as a Vice President of the republic of Ghana.

In 2004, former president Kufour had incumbency advantage over former president Prof Mills, but the situation was different in 2008, between current president Nana Akufo-Addo, the then candidate Akufo-Addo and former president Mills. Though the two candidates had no records as past presidents, but both served in past governments and Ghanaians seem to have been sympathetic to the late Prof. Mills who emerged as the victor of the election.

If past records as a formal president alone is the only criteria that electorate consider when voting, then former president John Mahama would have been elected as president in the 2016 election as president. Despite the former president being incumbent in the 2016 election, he lost to president Nana Akufo-Addo miserably. The former president John Mahama has entered into history book as the first president to serve for only one term since the first republic.

What is unique about the 2020 election is that both candidates, former president John Mahama and incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo have four years past records as president. This will grant Ghanaians the opportunity to compare and contrast their past performances before making decision on the voting day.