Alhaji Aliu Mahama (3 March 1946 – 16 November 2012) was a Ghanaian engineer and politician who was

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

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 ...

from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. A member 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 ...

, he was Ghana's first Muslim Vice-President.

Early life and education

An ethnic Dagomba, Aliu Mahama as a young man studied at the Government Secondary School in

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish language, Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalization, nixtamalized maize, corn, which is steaming, steamed in a corn husk or Banana leaf, banana leaves. The wrapping ...

from 1960 to 1967 for his Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates. He proceeded to the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), commonly known as UST, Tech or Kwame Tech, is a public university located in Kumasi, Ashanti region, Ghana. The university focuses on science and technology. It is the second public uni ...

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

from 1967 to 1971 where he obtained the

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Building Technology Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, computational, e ...

. Mahama was also an alumnus of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He obtained two certificates from the Institute in Project Planning and Management and in Leadership.

Career

He started his working career at the

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga (Frafra language, Frafra: ''Bɔlegataŋa''), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and also the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District, Bolgatanga Municipal and the Upper East Region of Ghana. It shares a Burkina Faso–Gh ...

regional office of the State Construction Corporation as an Engineer/Construction from 1972 to 1975. He was promoted to Assistant Regional Manager and posted to the

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K.dua or Koftown and now Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region, Ghana, Eastern Region of Ghana. The city has a population of 183,727 people as of 2010. The city is a blend of colonial and moder ...

Regional Office of the corporation from 1975 to 1976. He held the position of Regional Manager in charge of the Northern Region, Tamale from June 1976 to August 1982. In 1982, he successfully established his own

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

and general construction firm, LIDRA Limited, and became its managing director. He was Chairman of the Northern Regional Contractors Association from 1996 until the December 2000 elections. He was a Councilor on the

Yendi Yendi (Dagbani language, Dagbanli: Yani, meaning "Seat of the Yaa Naa"), is the traditional capital of the Kingdom of Dagbon and the administrative centre of the Yendi Municipal District in the Northern Region of Ghana. As of 2021, the populatio ...

District Council in 1978 and an Assemblyman on the

Municipal Assembly in 1990. He was also Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Tamale-Louisville Sister State Committee. He was a board member of several secondary schools in the Northern Region including the Tamale

Polytechnic A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...

. He also served as a board member of the Ghanaian Premier League side Real Tamale United, where he was a founding member.

Personal life

He was married to Hajia Ramatu Mahama. Their son Farouk Aliu Mahama is currently the Member of Parliament for Yendi constituency and the board chair of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Corporation.

Retirement

After two terms as vice-president, he sought the

's nomination for the 2008 presidential election, but at the party's convention in December 2007, he was unsuccessful, obtaining only 6% (146 votes) of total delegate ballots cast. He then retired from politics."Aliu Mahama Was Ghana's First Muslim Vice President"
Modern Ghana, 19 November 2012.

Death

The Ghanaian media circulated rumours of his death on 14 November 2012 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital but the story was quickly denied the same day by his family and hospital authorities. He eventually died at the same hospital on 16 November 2012 at the age of 66 from a heart-related condition and complications from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He died almost four months after Ghanaian President

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as the 11th president of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the govern ...

died.

State funeral

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

, attended by hundreds, was held for him on 18 November 2012 per Islamic funeral prayer rites (Janaza) at the Independence Square in the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. In addition, he was accorded ceremonial military honours including an army procession accompanying the cortège and a 19-gun salute usually given to departed vice-presidents.

Burial

His body was later flown in a

Ghana Air Force The Ghana Air Force (GHF) is the aerial warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). The GHF, along with the Ghana army, Ghanaian army (GA) and Ghana Navy, Ghanaian navy (GN), make up the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghanaia ...

jet to Tamale in the Northern Region for burial at his private residence. He was buried in Kalpohin and his wife Ramatu Aliu Mahama was also buried closer to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahama, Aliu 1946 births 2012 deaths Vice-presidents of Ghana New Patriotic Party politicians Politicians from Northern Region (Ghana) Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology alumni Ghanaian Muslims Dagomba people Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration alumni Tamale Senior High School alumni Real Tamale United