The rivalry between the two major political parties in our country won’t stop as they have continued to battle it out in all the elections that the Electoral Commission, the body in charge of the management and organization of our public elections.
In 2016, the parties had yet another political banter. It was Nana Akufo-Addo, the then opposition leader represented the New Patriotic Party and John Dramani Mahama, the then sitting President who represented the National Democratic Congress again.
The usual campaigning was hectic and the atmosphere in the country was tense.
But trust Ghanaians to allow cool heads to prevail.
The New Patriotic Party campaigned on the message of *Change whilst the National Democratic Congress campaigned on the message of Continuity.
After the December election, Nana Akufo Addo overwhelmingly won the election with over one million votes difference. The difference dazed the National Democratic Congress and never contested it.
The Parliament elected Professor Mike Aaron Ocquaye as its Speaker. He was assisted by Hon Joe Osei Owusu, (First Deputy Speaker,) and MP for Ejisu and Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, (second Deputy Speaker) and MP for Nadowli Kaleo.
The Parliament was dominated by the New Patriotic Party as the party won majority of the seats during the election.
President Akufo-Addo, nominated more than 100 Ministers to be approved by the Parliament. It was described as the largest number of Ministers in the fourth Republic and Ghanaians were not happy with the quantum of the Ministers the President had appointed.
Ministries like Public Sector Reforms, Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, National Security, Railway Development, Information etc were created or established.
Another Presidential and Parliamentary elections were held in 2020.NPP still had Akufo-Addo and John Dramani Mahama facing each other again.
The parties campaigned vigorously. The New Patriotic Party emerged as winners.
Their votes were were reduced and the Parliament became a hung one.
NPP had 137 Members and NDC also had 137 Members in the 275 member House.
The independent Member of Parliament in the person of Hon Andrew Amoako Asiamah agreed to do business with the New Patriotic Party.
He used to be a member of the New Patriotic Party until he decided to go solo (independent).
He was expelled from the party before the election. He went ahead to retain the seat as an independent candidate.
He salvaged the NPP in the House by increasing its number to 138 seats.
The Parliament was the eighth Parliament. It was the Parliament that elected a senior member of the then opposition NDC as the Speaker of the House. It was a fiercely contested election by the members. The House was rowdy and uncontrollable and it took the intervention of the security and the office of Marshall of Parliament to restore order.
Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin was elected to the seat of the Speaker. He defeated his former boss and the Speaker of the seventh Parliament of the fourth Republic, Rt Hon Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye.
Also, the expelled member of the House was elected as the Second Deputy Speaker in the person of Hon Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the independent Member of Parliament for Fomena in the Ashanti Region. (He became the pillar of the building).
John Dramani Mahama and his party,the National Democratic Congress petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the election, because they believed that the elections were not conducted in the transparent manner.
The NDC and John Dramani Mahama were represented by Tsatsu Tsika and other senior lawyers whilst the New Patriotic Party and the Electoral Commission were represented by the late lawyer Akoto Ampaw and Justin Amenuveve respectively.
The panel was presided by the former Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah.
The NDC failed to provide any evidence and the Court threw away their case.
Akufo-Addo and NPP were given the green light to continue to manage the affairs of the country.
The 2024 Presidential and the Parliamentary elections produced another political milestone in our democratic culture.
NDC maintained the same team that contested Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The New Patriotic Party had Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the former Member of Parliament for Manhyia South as the flag bearer and the running respectively.
Mahama maintained Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, a former Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and a former Minister of Education.
The parties campaigned very well and sold their messages to the electorates.
The NDC overwhelmingly trounced the NPP.
The National Democratic Congress also won the most seats in Parliament.
The National Democratic Congress once again retained Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin as the Speaker of the House. He presided the eighth Parliament of the fourth Republic.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia,the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party was commended for conceding defeat even before the Electoral Commission, the umpire would announce the official results.
John Dramani Mahama, HE has been sworn in as the President and the Commander in Chief of Ghana Armed Forces.
He has four years to man the affairs of the country and serve the people diligently.
He has pledged to serve the nation within the remit of the law.
He has also promised to reduce the number of Ministers to 60.
He has also assured the citizens that he would remove some taxes he called nuisance taxes.
We are still celebrating the fruits of the fourth Republic even though we have had more than eight elections, because our 1992 Constitution has not been disturbed, dustbined or thrown away.
The recent election has also proven that Ghanaians believe in Democracy as the best form of governance.
So far, the fourth Republic has come to stay and Ghanaians must be applauded for their support and the acceptability of Democracy.
The 2024 elections have shown to the politicians that Ghanaian voter is wide awake and cannot be underestimated.
By Osman Ahmed Halid
The Servant