Politics is a game; a game of strategies, but even more, politics is intentional and for many more people, it is done in a calculated way - just like going to the field of war.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) – Ghana’s biggest opposition party today, may not have had any of this in the plan, but they have unconsciously promoted a trend that could easily pass for the political party with the best succession plan in Ghana’s history.
In more specific terms, the NDC, under the fourth republic (Ghana’s current and most stable republic), has produced three presidents who have each, except for Jerry John Rawlings, served in both roles of vice president and president.
John Evans Atta Mills
In the second term of Ghana’s first president under the fourth republic, Jerry John Rawlings (1997-2001), he selected John Evans Atta Mills, a relatively unpopular member of the party at the time, as his vice president.
Their tenure as president and vice was largely without any issues and so, it became an easy thing for Rawlings to endorse the bid for Atta Mills to take over from him, running for the NDC as its flagbearer in the 2000 general elections.
Although he lost to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) John Agyekum Kufuor, and then again in 2004, he still came back and won on his third attempt at the presidency during the 2008 polls.
John Evans Atta Mills however only solidified his victory after a crucial by-election was decided between him and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at Tein, a relatively unimaginable constituency for such a decider.
On January 7, 2009, he took the oath of office and became Ghana’s Head of State, but only until July 24, 2012, when he died in office.
John Dramani Mahama
John Atta Mills’ vice, John Dramani Mahama, by constitutional provisions, automatically took over the vacant role of president.
He served the remaining months of the tenure of Atta Mills until fresh elections were held on December 7, 2012.
Again, another one-time vice president went head-to-head with the NPP’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and won.
This victory for John Mahama was however strongly contested by the NPP and Akufo-Addo when they went to the apex court, seeking its ruling in getting the said election annulled and rather having the NPP candidate declared winner of the elections.
For months, Ghanaians were glued to their TV and radio sets as they followed the blow-by-blow accounts of the country’s first-ever election petition hearing at the Supreme Court.
When the Supreme Court, led by Justice William Atuguba, ruled on the case on August 29, 2013, it upheld the election of John Dramani Mahama as president, in a 5-4 decision by the panel.
In days that would follow, the court released a 588-page report on the election petition, among which were certain recommendations.
At the polls on December 7, 2012, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on his third attempt, won the hearts of millions of Ghanaians, becoming the first person to deny a sitting president his chance at a second term.
That has been the NDC succession story so far and as it stands now, although the party is yet to elect a candidate who will stand on its ticket for the presidency at the 2024 elections, that trajectory seems to still be in play.
This is because John Mahama’s chances at coming back to lead his party seems on course, although other names are beginning to come up as contenders for the vacant spot too.
The NDC flag is seen flying at a party event