President John Mahama and Dr. Bawumia were frontrunners in the 2024 general election
President John Dramani Mahama has once again expressed surprise over the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
Addressing members of the clergy during a fellowship meeting in Kumasi on Sunday, March 2, 2025, President Mahama said he never expected the outcome of the election to have been known as early as a day after the December 7 election.
According to him, while he was asleep a day after the election, he was woken up from his sleep to receive a concessionary phone call from his biggest contender, then Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“The night after we voted, by 9 am the next morning, everything was done; all the votes were counted. Who would have imagined? Because I thought we would have had to wait for the Electoral Commission for three days. But by the next morning, I was woken from my sleep that my brother wants to talk to me.
“I asked which brother, and I was told it was my brother, the Vice President, Bawumia. I asked for a minute, went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth quickly, and came to pick up my phone. When I checked, it was my brother on the phone. He said my ‘big brother, we fought a good fight and when I look at how things are going, you have won, so I am calling to congratulate you, after which I will go out to meet with the press and concede defeat to you,’” he stated.
Ghana’s 2024 presidential election, held on December 7, resulted in a victory for John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Mahama, a former president (2012–2017), secured 56.55% of the vote, totaling 6,328,397 votes, according to the Electoral Commission’s official results announced on December 9. His opponent, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), received 41.61%, or 4,657,304 votes.
On December 8, a day after the election and before the official results were declared, Dr. Bawumia conceded defeat in a televised address from his residence.
Citing internal NPP tallies that showed Mahama’s decisive win, Bawumia announced he had called Mahama to congratulate him, emphasizing his decision was to reduce tension and uphold Ghana’s reputation as a democratic leader in Africa.
“The people of Ghana have spoken. The people have voted for change at this time, and we respect that decision with all humility,” he stated.
John Mahama was sworn in as president on January 7, 2025, alongside Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Ghana’s first female vice president.
President John Dramani Mahama narrates how former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia called him very early the next morning after the elections, at a time when he was still asleep, to concede defeat and congratulate him.
According to Mahama, he never thought he would win so… pic.twitter.com/KBMlNCCiEH
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) March 2, 2025
GA/BB
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