Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia wins primary, vows to lead ‘energised’ ruling party 

Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has been elected as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate for the 2024 presidential election in a primary conducted on Saturday.

Bawumia won the primaries as he received more than 60% of the vote from nearly 200,000 ballots.

Controversial MP and businessman Kennedy Agyapong, came second in the race for the presidential ticket. Former Agriculture Minister Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former MP Francis Addai-Nimoh also missed out.

Bawumia, a deputy to President Nana Akufo-Addo, is the first northerner and Muslim seek for the top executive job in Ghana under the ruling party’s banner since 1992.

Mr Bawumia, while speaking after his much celebrated victory, vowed to lead a “united and energised” NPP into the presidential race.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, an NPP member, will leave office after the December 2024 elections, having served two terms.

Mr Bawumia is poised to face former President John Mahama, the flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the election.

Ghana has been facing its worst economic troubles in recent years. Inflation reached a record 54% in December last year, its highest in several years. It has since fallen to around 38%.

The main contestants are expected to campaign the economic line among other crucial national issues.