Former President John Dramani Mahama has told the Akufo-led government to accommodate criticisms and strengthen free speech “while protecting journalists from harm”.
Mr Mahama believes Ghana is currently suffering from “decay”. As a result, he rallied all members of his party, as well as Ghanaians in general, to” ‘Arise, Arise for Ghana’ wherever we are.”
He made the comments in an address to party faithfuls during the 30th anniversary of the NDC.
He was concerned by the arrest of journalists and verbal attacks against critics of the ruling party.
While extolling the achievements of the NDC, he indicated added: “thirty (30) years ago, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was birthed with the objective of delivering unity, stability, and development to all Ghanaians. Through the leadership of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings (Rtd.), supported by his formidable team, the NDC emerged out of the PNDC as the vanguard leading the nation in the establishment of a new constitutional democracy, which guaranteed the rights and freedoms of all Ghanaians. On this solemn day, I commend our forebears who have sacrificed their all to get us here.”
The NDC was established on 10 June, 1992, and emerged victorious in the general elections held later that year.
It, therefore, became the first party to win power in the Fourth Republic.
The party has since won three elections with the latest coming in 2012.
History of the NDC
The National Democratic Congress was founded by Jerry Rawlings, who had been the military leader of Ghana since 1981. In 1992, the National Democratic Congress led the successful transition to multi-party competition, an example of authoritarian-led democratization. The NDC won the 1992 and 1996 elections.
2000 elections
The 2000 election was the first presidential election since 1992 that which an incumbent president was not on the ballot. Jerry Rawlings’ eight-year tenure had expired as per the Constitution of Ghana. John Atta Mills became the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress at a special delegate congress held in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana. He was popularly acclaimed as the presidential candidate of the party for the 2000 presidential election. Vice-president John Atta Mills lost in 2000 to New Patriotic Party’s John Kufour after two rounds of voting.
2004 elections
In the 2004 elections, the party’s manifesto called for “A Better Ghana”. John Atta Mills ran again for the NDC in the 2004 presidential elections with his running mate Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni. He won 44.6% of the vote but lost to the New Patriotic Party. In the general elections held on 7 December 2004, the party won only 94 of the 230 seats.
2008 elections
On 21 December 2006, Mills was overwhelmingly elected by the NDC as its candidate for the 2008 presidential election with a majority of 81.4%, or 1,362 votes. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah was second with 8.7% (146 votes), Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu was third with 8.2% (137 votes), and Eddie Annan was fourth with 1.7% (28 votes). In April 2008, John Mahama was chosen as the party’s vice-presidential candidate. On 3 January 2009, Mills was certified as the victor of the 28 December 2008 run-off election and became the next president of Ghana.
2012 transfer of power and elections
President John Atta Mills died, after a short illness, in the afternoon of 24 July 2012 while still in office. Vice President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC was sworn in as president that evening. The NDC picked John Dramani Mahama as their presidential candidate and sitting vice president Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur as their vice-presidential candidate for the 2012 elections.
2016 primaries
In November 2015 after securing an overwhelming 1,199 118 out of a total of 1, 286, 728 votes representing 95.10% of party members in the presidential primaries, President John Dramani Mahama was endorsed to lead the NDC in the 2016 general elections.
2020 elections
Ahead of the 2020 elections, In February 2019, John Dramani Mahama was confirmed as the candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress to contest in the 2020 elections, the incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo unseated Mahama in a 2016 election, capitalizing on an economy that was slowing due to falling prices for gold, oil and cocoa exports. He won the National Democratic Congress primaries by securing an overwhelming 213,487 votes representing 95.23 percent of the total valid votes cast with the other six contenders managing about 4 percent of the votes.
On 25 June 2020 the NDC led by its General Secretary Asiedu Nketiah, lost a case in the Supreme Court of Ghana in which the party had sought to achieve the inclusion of old Voter ID cards in the Electoral Commission’s compilation of a New Voter’s Register, among other reliefs.
In the 2020 elections, 18 members of the party who sought to run as independent candidates lost their membership. All who endorsed the forms of the candidates and participated in their campaigns were also expelled.