General elections were held in
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
on 7 December 2020. Incumbent President
Nana Akufo-Addo
William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the 13th president of Ghana from January 2017 to January 2025. He previously served as Attorney General of Ghana, Attorney General from 2001 to 20 ...
of the
New Patriotic Party
The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...
(NPP) was re-elected in the first round after securing a majority of the votes. Former President
John Dramani Mahama
John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who has been the 14th president of Ghana since January 2025. A member of the National Democratic Congress (Ghana), National Democratic Congress (NDC), he served as the 12th p ...
announced that he would contest the results. At the Supreme Court, a petition challenging the result was filed on 30 December, and unanimously dismissed on 4 March 2021 for lack of merit.
The NPP lost its majority in the
parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, winning the same number of seats as the opposition NDC, resulting in a
hung parliament
A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...
with a single independent (
Andrew Asiamah Amoako) in the position of
kingmaker
A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a monarchy or royal in their political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious, and military means to influence the ...
, who later chose to support the NPP.
Electoral system
The
President of Ghana
The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is John Mahama, who won the 2024 presidential elect ...
is elected using the
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
, whilst the 275
members
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
are elected in single-member constituencies using
first-past-the-post voting
First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...
.
Eligible voters must be Ghanaian citizens who are at least 18 years old, although those declared insane are disenfranchised. Parliamentary candidates must be Ghanaian citizens at least 21 years old, and either be resident in their constituency or have lived there for at least five of the ten years prior to the election.
Campaign
In February 2019, former president
John Mahama
John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who has been the 14th president of Ghana since January 2025. A member of the National Democratic Congress (Ghana), National Democratic Congress (NDC), he served as the 12th p ...
was confirmed as the candidate of the opposition
National Democratic Congress. In December, incumbent president
Nana Akufo-Addo
William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the 13th president of Ghana from January 2017 to January 2025. He previously served as Attorney General of Ghana, Attorney General from 2001 to 20 ...
announced that he intended to run for re-election as the
New Patriotic Party
The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...
(NPP) candidate. In June 2020, the NPP chose Akufo-Addo as its presidential candidate and Mahamudu Bawumia as its vice-presidential candidate. Mahama and Akufo-Addo previously ran against each other in both
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
(with Mahama winning) and
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
(with Akufo-Addo winning).
All contesting political parties especially the NPP and NDC campaigned vigorously across the country despite fears that political activities such as rallies could increase the rate of spread of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
during the
pandemic in Ghana. Following the death of
Jerry Rawlings
Jerry John Rawlings (born Jerry Rawlings John; 22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer, aviator, and politician who led the country briefly in 1979 and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1993 and then se ...
, first president of the Fourth Republic on 12 November 2020, most candidates decided to suspend their campaigns for a week out of respect to his memory.
Filing of nomination papers for presidential candidates
At the close of the filing of nomination papers for the presidential election on 9 October 2020, seventeen persons had filed papers to stand for the elections.
One of those who filed their papers on 5 October 2020 was the incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo.
Each candidate was expected to pay a fee of GH¢100,000 to the Electoral Commission.
Akwasi Addai Odike
Akwasi Addai Odike is a Ghanaian businessman and politician.
Early life and education
Odike completed his secondary school education at Aduman Secondary school where he obtained the GCE Ordinary Level certificate. He later established as a busin ...
of the
United Progressive Party
The United Progressive Party is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. It was previously led by Baldwin Spencer, it was the governing party from 2004 to 2014. It has been in opposition since the 2014 election. Jamale Pringle was elected lea ...
claimed that there was a conspiracy by the NPP and the Electoral Commission to prevent him from filing his nomination papers. This was promptly denied by the chairman of the NPP,
Peter Mac Manu
Peter Mac Manu (born 1953) is a Ghanaian politician. He was the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party from December 2005 to February 2010 and the Honorary Chairman of the Democrat Union of Africa. He was made the Campaign Manager for th ...
. However, the NDC questioned why presidential candidates were filing nomination papers when the Electoral Commission has not finalised the new voter's register to be used for this election. To the surprise of many,
Jacob Osei Yeboah disclosed on 6 October, when he was expected to file his nomination papers, that he would instead be the running mate of
Asiedu Walker
Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker was an independent presidential candidate in Ghana.
Early life and education
Alfred was the youngest of nine children in his family. His parents were Nana Kwame Okanta Obrantiri, who was the King of Larteh Akuapem. Hi ...
.
– Disqualified by the Electoral Commission of Ghana
Final list of presidential candidates
Following the vetting of their papers, the Electoral Commission announced the final list of presidential candidates on 19 October 2020. Five people had been disqualified from standing for the election as there were various problems with their nomination documents. These include IT issues with their forms and some had been forwarded to the
Criminal Investigation Department
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...
of the
Ghana Police Service
The Ghana Police Service (GPS) is the main law enforcement agency of Ghana. The service is under the control of the Ghanaian Ministry of the Interior, and employs over 30,000 officers across its 651 stations.
Organisational structure
The Ghana P ...
. Those disqualified include
Kofi Koranteng and
Marricke Kofi Gane who are both
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
. Akwasi Addae Odike of the United Progressive Party,
Nana Agyenim Boateng
Nana Agyenim Boateng is a Ghanaian politician known as the flag bearer of the United Front Party. He is one of the candidates who was disqualified from contesting in the 2016 general elections by the Electoral Commission
An election commissi ...
of the
United Front Party and Kwasi Busumbru of the
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
were also not eligible.
On 20 October 2020, the candidates balloted for the order in which they will appear on the ballot paper. The incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo will be the first on the list followed by John Mahama, a former president. The full list as on the ballot paper is below.
Following this, one of the disqualified candidates, Nana Agyenim Boateng, leader of the UFP, took to court to seek redress and prevent the elections from going ahead but the Accra High Court found no grounds to grant this relief.
Violence
On 8 December, a day after the elections there were reports of gunshots leading to the arrest of
Nii Lante Vanderpuye the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the
Odododiodio
Odododiodio is one of the constituencies represented in the Parliament of Ghana. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
At the by-election held on the 30 August 2005, Jonathan Nii Tackie Komey (N ...
constituency. The
Ghana Police reported 5 deaths and 19 injuries during and after the election.
Parliamentary election
The Electoral Commission announced that following the creation of the Guan District in the
Oti Region
The Oti Region is one of the six newly created regions of Ghana in December 2018. The region was carved out of the Volta Region and will be in fulfillment of a campaign promise made by New Patriotic Party. Prior to the 2016 Ghanaian general elec ...
through the Guan District Local Government (Guan District Assembly) (Establishment) Instrument, 2020, people in this area will only be able to take part in the presidential election. This is because the Guan constituency had not yet been formally created.
Opinion polls
Ben Ephson of the ''Daily Dispatch'' newspaper conducted polls in the Greater Accra, Central and Western regions. He predicted that Akufo-Addo of the NPP will win the election with 52.6% of the votes while Mahama will obtain 45.7%.
The Political Science Department of the
University of Ghana
The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country.
The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...
polled 11,949 respondents and predicted that Akufo-Addo (NPP) will win 51.7% of the vote while Mahama wins 40.4%.
An iPoll survey of 670 respondents predicted 48.7% of the votes for Mahama and 46.7% for Akufo-Addo implying that the election may go a second round as the winner has to have over 50% of the votes.
The Governance Research Bureau predicted that Akufo-Addo will obtain 49.19% of the votes and Mahama 48.27% also implying a second round of elections may be needed.
Results
The total number of registered voters was 17,027,655. The Electoral Commission promised to declare the results of the election within 24 hours of the completion of voting.
Some leaders of the NDC expressed their doubts about the commission being able to do so within the 24 hours time frame. In the late afternoon of 8 December the Electoral commission communicated that the declaration of the votes in 24 hours which was supposed to take place at 5:00 pm which is exactly 24 hours of the closure of the election had been extended. The Commission in a statement explained that the extension was to ensure that collation of results at the constituency and regional collation centres across the country are accurate. On 9 December, incumbent Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo was declared the winner after securing a majority of the votes needed to avoid a runoff.
President
The declared results exclude the figures for the
Techiman South as the results there are being contested. The Electoral Commissioner states that the results of this constituency alone will not change the outcome of the election.
On 10 December 2020, the Electoral Commission issued a statement which revised figures for the presidential election results while admitting that there had been some errors. A research group Research and Grant Institute of Ghana raised concerns about this and the
Coalition of Domestic Election Observers The Coalition of Domestic Observers (CODEO) is a network of civil society groups, faith-based organizations, and professional bodies that observe Ghanaian elections to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections. Since its establishment in 2000, ...
(CODEO) urged the commission to come out and clarify the errors properly instead of just issuing press releases.
By region
Parliament

There has been a long delay in declaring the final result in the parliamentary election. On 14 December, a week after voting was completed, the Electoral Commission announced that it was working on finalising the results for Sene West constituency.
Seats won by region
Petition
On 30 December 2020 the NDC filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the results. On 4 March 2021 the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the petition, stated that it lacked merit.
See also
*
List of MPs elected in the 2020 Ghanaian general election
The 2020 Ghanaian general election was held on 7 December 2020 to elect Member of Parliament, Members of Parliament (MPs) to the 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic. The Speaker (politics), Speaker is not an elected member of parliament though ...
*
List of general elections in Ghana
This is a list of elections held in the British colony of the Gold Coast, which later expanded to include the Northern Territories, Ashanti Region and the Trans-Volta Togoland prior to becoming the Republic of Ghana.
Gold Coast era
During the ...
References
{{Ghanaian elections
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
General election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Presidential elections in Ghana
Parliamentary elections in Ghana
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results