| Parliament name |
Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
7 December 2004 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The elections were the fourth presidential and parliamentary elections under the multiparty system introduced in 1992. The incumbent President, John Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), his long-standing rival John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and two other candidates - Edward Mahama of the People's National Convention (PNC) and George Aggudey of the Convention People's Party (CPP) - ran for President. In the parliamentary election, 953 candidates, including 104 women, contested 230 seats (up from 200 four years earlier). Some 10.3 million registered voters were called upon to take part in the elections.
During the campaign, Mr. Kufuor's NPP, under the slogan "So far, so good", argued that his first four-year term had brought economic stability, with a growth rate exceeding 5 per cent. On the other hand, his rival, Mr. Atta Mills, successor to the charismatic former President Jerry John Rawlings (who stepped down in 2000 after two terms), pointed out the price rises for school fees, petrol and utilities, calling for "A better Ghana".
Although Ghana is the second largest gold producer in Africa, 44.8 per cent of Ghanaians still live under the United Nations poverty line of $1 of income per day, and many are without sanitation, clean water or a stable electricity supply. According to the Government, unemployment stands at 20 per cent.
The Commonwealth, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU), the United Nations, the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS) and the Canadian Government sent observers to monitor the poll, and the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers also deployed some 7,500 monitors. Although 27 violent incidents were reported between the beginning of November and 6 December, including two deaths resulting from an exchange of gunfire in the north, international and national observers praised what was considered a generally peaceful election. The Canadian High Commission qualified it as "fair, orderly, and transparent".
Turnout was reported to be very high, reaching around 85.12 per cent.
The Electoral Commission declared the re-election of Mr. Kufuor with 52.45% of the total vote, surpassing the 50 per cent required to become President in a single round of voting. The run-off scheduled for 28 December was thus cancelled. His rival, Mr. Atta Mills, obtained 44.64 per cent; Mr. Aggudey, 1.0 per cent and Mr. Mahama, 1.92 per cent.
In the parliamentary election, the ruling NPP came in first with 128 members elected, while its rival, the NDC, obtained 94 seats. The PNC and CPP respectively won four and three seats. One independent candidate was also elected. As for gender balance in the parliament, only 25 of the 104 female candidates managed to win seats.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 7 December 2004 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
10'354'970
8'813'908 (85.12%)
188'123
8'625'785 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| New Patriotic Party (NPP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| National Democratic Congress (NDC) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| People's National Convention (PNC) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Convention People's Party (CPP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| New Patriotic Party (NPP) |
128
|
|
|
|
|
| National Democratic Congress (NDC) |
94
|
|
|
|
|
| People's National Convention (PNC) |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Convention People's Party (CPP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
205
25
10.87%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Source:
Presidential & Parliamentary Elections 2004 (http://www.ghanaweb.com)
Electoral Commission (11 January 2005)
IPU Group of Ghana (16.03.2005) |
|
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page