Claim: A Facebook group, Hungry Youth Association of GH, is alleging that the NPP lost the elections, but the EC and the court rigged the election for them.
Verdict: Reports from international observers and key media institutions present at all polling and constituency stations described the election as generally free and fair.
Full Text
With two months to go for the December 2024 elections in Ghana, a Facebook group is alleging the previous election in 2020 was rigged by the election management body and the courts.
The Facebook group “Hungry Youth Association of GH” stated, “The NPP lost the elections, but the EC and the court rigged the election for them.”
The group also argued that the Free SHS policy would not guarantee the NPP’s hold on power, adding, “This time, the EC and the court should watch out for what is coming.”
This year’s election features several presidential candidates, but the main focus is the contest between the ruling New Patriotic Party, led by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and the opposition National Democratic Congress, led by former President John Mahama.
With growing public interest in the electoral process, DUBAWA has taken on the task of verifying the claim that the 2020 election was rigged in favour of the NPP.
Verification
Voting is the process by which individuals express their choice or opinion, typically by marking a ballot, as happened in the 2020 election.
“Rigging,” on the other hand, refers to dishonestly manipulating the outcome of something, such as an election.
With a few outstanding constituency results left, the Electoral Commissioner, Ms Jean Mensah, declared incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo the winner of the 2020 elections on December 9, 2020, beating his closest rival, John Mahama.
Akufo-Addo polled 50.8% of the votes, whilst John Dramani Mahama would obtain 47.873% of the votes.
However, the results in the parliamentary election were even closer, with almost a hung parliament recorded. Each of the two parties won 137 seats in Parliament, with one independent who later decided to do Parliamentary business with the NPP. This gave the NPP the slimmest majority of 138 seats in Parliament.
The opposition NDC was not enthused by the election results, particularly the presidential election, so it decided to challenge the results in court.
So, was the 2020 elections in Ghana rigged?
DUBAWA’s research did not support that claim. Several independent election observers published reports confirming that the election was generally free and fair.
First, DUBAWA checked what the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers reported. The Coalition is one of Ghana’s biggest and most trusted local observers under the Centre for Democratic Development CDD. The Coalition deployed 4000 non-partisan observers across all polling stations. Its final report stated: “The CODEO Parallel Vote Tabulation data and observer reports showed that the elections were conducted according to electoral laws and procedures. Challenges were isolated and did not undermine the process’s overall credibility.”
ECOWAS and AU election observers: For her part, ECOWAS deployed 125 observers to enhance transparency. The ECOWAS team was headed by former Liberian President Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
However, the AU election observation mission, led by His Excellency Kgalema Motlanthe, Former President of South Africa, commended the people of Ghana and all electoral stakeholders for their role during the December 7, 2020 elections.
“The AUEOM commends the people of Ghana and all key electoral stakeholders for holding orderly and peaceful elections under a challenging COVID-19 context,” said the AU in a preliminary statement just days before final results.
European Union election observers, on the other hand, described the 2020 Presidential elections as a process marked by efficiency and transparency, and voters participated freely in large numbers.
“The polls were competitive, and contestants could campaign without hindrance,” said the EU EOM Ghana final report.
Credible media reports, including the Multimedia Group (Joy FM), called the election for the incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo even before the EC officially announced its results.
Hours after Joy FM called the election for Akufo-Addo, the Electoral Commission (EC), which is responsible for overseeing elections in Ghana, also announced the NPP’s victory.
As declared by the Commission and called by several media houses, the results did not go down well with the NDC. They then proceeded to the Supreme Court, accusing the incumbent of conspiring with the EC to rig the election.
The ex-president minced no words in describing the election as a rigged election. In a tweet, he said: ‘The National Democratic Congress has decided to proceed to the Supreme Court to contest the results of the rigged elections of December 7. The decision follows a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our party on Tuesday in Accra.
When the case was called, the ex-president and his party failed to provide evidence of rigging, and the court threw out the petition. The Chief Justice described the opposition leaders’ testimonies as “fanciful tales.”
When the researcher asked the claimant, the ‘Hungry Youth Association of GH’ for evidence of rigging, they could not prove the allegation.
Conclusion
The claim that the NPP lost the 2020 election and that the EC and the court rigged the results is misleading. The 2020 Presidential election in Ghana was conducted freely and transparently.