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
Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari ,Cletus Kwaku Mbowura ,Mathew Lobnibe Arah
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.