Campaign to ensure NDC 2016 victory begins
A nationwide campaign to get 1,000,000 new votes for the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), President John Mahama, in the November 7, 2016 general election has begun in Accra.
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The campaign, which is being spearheaded by a group calling itself JM Fun Club, also seeks to use various platforms in each of the 275 constituencies in Ghana to highlight some of the achievements chalked up by President Mahama in his first term of office.
The campaign started last Sunday in Ablekuma Central in Accra and the parliamentary candidate of the party is expected to join the team to canvass for votes for President Mahama.
Voting patterns
The last five elections in Ghana have witnessed a close contest between the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The NDC has won four with the NPP winning two.
In 1992 NDC won that election after the NPP had boycotted the parliamentary polls. However, in 1996, President Jerry John Rawlings won the presidential seat for the NDC with a total of 4,101,674, votes representing 57.40 per cent. The then presidential candidate John Agyekum Kufuor, who stood on the ticket of the NPP, polled 2,829,726, representing 39.60 per cent.
The NPP came back strongly in the 2000 election but was unable to secure the required number and percentage of votes to win in the first round. Mr Kufuor obtained 3,131,739, representing 48.17 per cent while his main contender, then Vice President Professor John Evans Atta Mills secured a total of 2,895,575 votes, representing 44.54 for the NDC. The NPP, however, was able to win the election when the party won 3,631,263 votes constituting 56.90 per cent while the NDC obtained 2,750,124 votes, representing 43.10 per cent in the run-off.
Mr Kufuor was again elected for a second term in office in 2004 when he polled a total of 4,524,074 votes representing 52.45 per cent for the NPP, with Prof. Atta Mills losing with 3,850,368 votes, for the NDC constituting 44.64 per cent.
There was another run-off in election 2008. The NDC candidate, Prof. Atta Mills, obtained 4,056,634 votes, representing 47.92 per cent while Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP obtained 4,159,439 votes, constituting 49.13 per cent.
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Events, however, took a different turn in the run-off when Prof. Atta Mills won a total of 4,521,032 votes, constituting 50.23 per cent with Nana Akufo-Addo securing 4,480,446 votes, representing 49.77 per cent.
Unfortunately, President Atta Mills died during his first term in office and that paved the way for the current President, John Mahama, who was then the Vice-President, to take over the presidency. In the 2012 general election President Mahama retained the presidential office for the NDC when he secured 5,574,761 votes, representing 50.70 per cent to beat Nana Akufo Addo, who obtained 5,248,898 votes, constituting 47.74 per cent.
This year’s election will be one of the toughest as the two main political parties engage in massive campaigning to get the electorate to give them power.
President Mahama needs more time
The JM Fun Club is one of the groups formed to campaign for President John Mahama.
Addressing residents in the constituency, the National Research Director of the JM Fun Club, Dr William Coffie, said the Better Ghana agenda of President Mahama would be felt more during his second term in office.