Sweet Electoral Victory and Painful Defeat: Analysis of The Victory and Defeat of The National Democratic Congress and John Dramani Mahama in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Presidential Elections in Ghana

10.2478/bjlp-2022-001103

Abstract

This paper interrogates the fortunes of National Democratic Congress (NDC), and its
Presidential Candidate in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections in Ghana. The
analysis is situated within the context of structural and political-economic framework of
analysis. The paper employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. The
information leading to the achievement of the study objectives was gathered through data
collection methods such as secondary data sources, interview guided questionnaire and key
informant interviews. Drawing on multiple strands of data, multiple regression and
interpretive techniques of analysis, the results show that several factors undergirded NDC’s
“sweet victory and painful defeat.” Whereas ethnicity was largely responsible for NDC’s
victory in 2012, a multiplicity of factors accounted for its defeat in 2016. This paper argues
that beyond the above factors, the “politics of the COVID-19” played a critical role in the
defeat of the NDC in the 2020 presidential elections in Ghana.