The claim that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the first incumbent presidential candidate in Ghana’s Fourth Republic to concede defeat before the official declaration of results is historically inaccurate.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has pointed out that this assertion ignores a crucial precedent set by Professor John Evans Atta Mills, who was the Vice President and presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2000 election runoff.
On December 29, 2000, a day after the election and before the official announcement by Electoral Commission Chairman Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan on December 30, Prof. Mills voluntarily conceded defeat to his opponent, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
His act of statesmanship was widely recognized by Mr. Kufuor and the Electoral Commission, marking a significant moment in Ghana’s democratic development.
Dr. Bawumia, whose family had strong ties to the NDC during this period, cannot reasonably claim to be unaware of this historical event. His father, who served as Chairman of the Council of State, was actively involved in the political processes of the time.
While some diplomats and clergy may not be familiar with this electoral history, the facts remain clear.
Prof. Mills’ conduct serves as a powerful reminder of the political maturity necessary to ensure peaceful transitions and uphold Ghana’s democratic values.
Read Mr. Martin Amidu’s full statement below:
BAWUMIA NOT THE FIRST INCUMBENT CANDIDATE TO CONCEDE DEFEAT
BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF RESULTS IN GHANA: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU
The historical facts contradict the reconstruction of the image of Vice President Mahamudu
Bawumia as being the first incumbent presidential candidate in the history of the Fourth
Republic to have conceded defeat to an opposition presidential candidate before the formal
declaration of the presidential results by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Professor John Evans Atta Mills, then Vice President and incumbent presidential candidate of
the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the 2000 presidential runoff election on 28
December 2000 conceded defeat to the opposition New Patriotic Party’s presidential
candidate, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor the next day, 29 December 2000, before the formal
declaration of the results of the election on Saturday, 30 December 2000 by Dr. Kwadwo
Afari-Gyan the Chairman of the then Electoral Commission. The graciousness of Professor
Mills’ gesture was acknowledged first by Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor after Prof. Mills had
telephoned him to concede defeat and to congratulate him as the winner of the presidential
election on 29 December 2000, and by the Electoral Commission in formally declaring the
results of the runoff elections the next day.
Twenty-four years down the line, the hazards and vicissitudes of life have made memories
deem for disingenuous politicians like Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who had a vested interest in
the outcome of the 2000 presidential election by virtue of the membership of his parents in
the NDC to pretend not to remember Prof. Mills’ unparalleled gesture of statesmanship on 29
December 2000. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia had himself just returned to the country after his
father the Chairman of the Council of State had gotten him employed at the Bank of Ghana
and cannot claim to have forgotten the historical event so soon at his current age.
The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps who ironically is from Lebanon, the European Union
Ambassador, a Ghanaian-American Archbishop resident in the USA, and others who might
be ignorant of the electoral history of Ghana under the 1992 Constitution may be forgiven for
crediting Dr. Mahamaudu Bawumia with being the first candidate to concede defeat to and to
congratulate his opponent. But Dr. Bawumia who had a vested interest in the 2000 elections
by virtue of his late father’s position within the NDC as the Chairman of the Council of State
could not, therefore, have forgotten that Professor Mills conceded defeat to and congratulated
Mr. Kufuor soon after the results of the runoff election indicated that the New Patriotic Party
(NPP) had won the elections in order to diffuse tensions and allow for a smooth transition of
power to the NPP.
I had heard some self-appointed men of God peddling the same disinformation,
misinformation and fake news of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia being the first incumbent
presidential candidate to concede defeat to his opponent before the EC could declare the
results of elections under the 1992 Constitution as a sign of democratic credentials of
statesmanship, commitment to democracy and good governance. I had decided to ignore
those assertions as coming from persons seeking cheap popularity, ingratiating themselves to
the lame duck government, and seeking to project Dr. Bawumia for a second bite at the
cherry at the 2028 presidential elections.
But to hear Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia himself asserting that he conceded defeat early to quell
assertions that the election was being rigged, which could have led to violence was to turn the
facts and truth on their heads that needed to be responded to immediately. The inerasable
truth is that Dr. Bawumia is not the first incumbent Vice President and presidential candidate
to concede defeat to his opponent under the 1992 Constitution to reduce electoral tensions in
an atmosphere charged with suspicion of the ruling government intending to rig presidential
elections. Dr. Bawumia was, therefore, exhibiting the highest degree of lack of integrity and
honour when he asserted that:
“Even though the Electoral Commission had not yet pronounced, in fact, some of my people
in my team were saying you can’t go out to concede, we don’t know if all this data is right,
let’s wait. And all of that. I said, look, we know this data is right from our own system, you
know, so if you wait, you build up more tension and violence could come because people
would think we are trying to rig the election.
Because that is the message that is coming, that we are trying to rig the election. But nobody
has ever conceded an election without the EC coming out to pronounce. And I said there’s a
first time for everything. For the interest of the peace and stability of our country, I will come
out, I’ll be the first person to concede even before the EC comes out.” (Emphasis supplied)
I have had occasion to call Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia an opportunist, a pretender, a clone, and
a poodle of lame duck President Nana Akufo-Addo because he has through association
mimicked the latter’s rhetorical style, deliberately spreading disinformation and/or
misinformation and outright untruths as eternal truths. I have no respect for anybody with a
claim to learning and scholarship who thinks that the higher educational capabilities his
parents have endowed him with are intended to be used to cheat the intelligence of the
electorate who have been less endowed. Coming from somebody from the former Northern
Territories (NT) where most of us are first generation educated persons from illiterate parents
who sent us to school to come out to assist our less fortunate teaming illiterate siblings is
unacceptable to me.
Anybody who followed the electoral history of 7 December 2024 presidential election after
the polls closed will know that the National Communications Officer of the NDC had, before
Dr. Bawumia came out to concede defeat to former President John Dramani Mahama, called
a press conference at which he had informed the media of the electoral trends as they had
unfolded from the constituencies and regions of Ghana. Doubting Thomas’ can listen to what
Mr. Sammy Gyamfi said at the press conference on 8 December 2024 long before Dr.
Bawumia conceded on YouTube: #Election2024: It was a landslide victory – Sammy Gyamfi.
When Dr. Bawumia who admittedly had the same data Sammy Gyamfi had was delaying in
conceding defeat, the NDC National Communication Officer urged Dr. Bawumia to do the
needful to avoid tension as captured on Tik Tok: 2024 Elections: Sammy Gyamfi Urges Dr.
Bawumia to Concede | TikTok. Where is the spontaneity about Dr. Bawumia’s statesmanship?
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, the presidential candidate of the NPP, and I, the
running mate to Vice President John Evans Atta Mills at the 2000 presidential elections
runoff, are the only surviving direct participating candidates in the final act of the 2000
presidential runoff elections to speak out authoritatively against the lies being peddled that
Bawumia is the first incumbent candidate under the 1992 Constitution to concede defeat to
his opponent before the formal declaration of the results by the EC. Mr. Kufuor is a sore
looser with Dr. Bawumia at the 2024 presidential elections and has no interest in challenging
the false narrative of Dr. Bawumia and his clique of likeminded disinformation and fake news
salesmen are peddling to the electorate. I have, therefore, a responsibility and a duty to set the
records straight by credible and cogent evidence of the 2000 runoff presidential elections held
on Thursday, 28 December 2000 in which Prof Mills and I lost to Mr. Kufuor of the NPP who
was very vindictive in victory and during the eight years of his governance.
On Friday 29 December 2000, the Vice-President Professor John Evans Atta Mills who was
the NDC incumbent presidential candidate for the 2000 presidential election conceded defeat
to the NPP presidential candidate Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor in the runoff election that was
held on Thursday, 28 December 2000. He was reported by the Associated Press as having
issued “a statement Friday saying it was clear that John Agyekum Kuffuor (sic) had won
Thursday’s vote to succeed President Jerry Rawlings, …..” The news report stated further that:
“Mills congratulated Kuffuor (sic)” and quoted Mills as saying that: “As an outgoing
government, we pledge to make his transition into office as smooth as possible.”
The reaction of the NPP presidential candidate-elect and others was reported as follows:
‘Kuffuor (sic), a British-trained lawyer and longtime politician, thanked Mills for his
“graciousness” and pledged to cooperate with his National Democratic Congress. And U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news – web sites), a Ghana native, commended the country’s
leaders and voters for “the transparent and peaceful manner in which the elections were
conducted. With these elections, Ghana has demonstrated that democracy and its institutions
continue to take root in Africa,” he said in a statement read by deputy U.N. spokesman
Manoel de Almeida e Silva.’
The Associated Press reporting on the news which was carried by Ghana Web on 30
December 2000 underscored the historical importance of Professor Mills’ act of conceding
defeat at the polls as follows: “Ghana’s vice president has conceded defeat to an opposition
leader in the country’s presidential election, signaling (sic) an orderly transition after a vote
notable as much for the way it was held as for its result.”
Ghana News Agency reported Professor Mills as follows: “I would like on behalf of the
(ruling) National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its millions of supporters, to congratulate
Mr Kufuor most warmly for his electoral victory. .. We wish him and the New patriotic Party
(NPP) well, both in the Executive and in the Legislature.”
GNA stated further in its reportage that: “The electoral commission said it would formally
announce the final results of Thursday’s run-off by mid-morning on Saturday.” Adding that:
‘Mills pledged to make Kufuor’s “transition into office as smooth as possible”.’
The Electoral Commission in formally announcing and declaring the results of the 2000
Presidential elections later acknowledged the graciousness of Vice-President Mills: “We
wish to congratulate Professor Mills particularly for the manner in which he has taken the
loss,” Commission Chairman Kwadwo Afari-Djan said. He stated further that: “Professor
Mills is a fine gentleman and it is gracious of him to have conceded defeat. That is what is
expected in a democracy.”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia might have been labouring under the delusion of the fact that in the
runoff presidential elections of 2008 Nana Akufo-Addo and him reluctantly conceded defeat
after the declaration of the presidential election results by the EC in words that negated good
will on their part as his benchmark for claiming now to be the first incumbent candidate to
concede defeat before the EC declared the results. Ghana Web reported the condition and
caveats under which Nana Akufo-Addo and Bawumia conceded defeat to Prof. Mills and
John Dramani Mahama on 3 January 2009 in a news report under: Akufo-Addo concedes
defeat for those who wish to read the caveats and conditions. One may ask Dr. Bawumia what
he made of the fact that the incumbent President of Ghana conceded defeat to Nana Akufo-
Addo and him at the 2016 presidential elections before the declaration of results by the EC in
those elections. France 24 with sources as Associated Press reported that President John
Dramani Mahama conceded defeat before the EC declared the election thus: Ghanaian
President Mahama concedes defeat to opposition leader Akufo-Addo for doubting Thomas’ to
read for themselves.
I have taken the trouble to be detailed in establishing the facts and evidence pointing
irrevocable to the fact that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was economical with the truth to have
claimed exceptionalism for conceding defeat to President-elect John Dramani Mahama in the
history of the 1992 Constitution’s electoral history. Dr. Bawumia has prospects for the future
if the NPP will after the mess Nana Akufo-Addo and he have brought the NPP into during
their eight years of disinformation, misinformation, and rhetorical deception decide to retain
him as their presidential candidate in future presidential elections. The one touch results of
the 2024 presidential elections, however, demonstrates that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia needs to
reconstruct his image from being Nana Akufo-Addo’s clone and poodle to a true Alhaji
Mumuni Bawumia son with the cultural and moral integrity of the original NT tradition to be
acceptable to the electorate in Ghana. The survival of the 1992 Constitution is anchored upon
political integrity that puts Ghana First and not upon political deception that considers Ghana
as expendable.
Martin A. B. K. Amidu
27 December 2024