By Enyichukwu Enemanna
An opinion poll on Monday indicated that Ghana’s main opposition leader, John Dramani Mahama may emerge victorious in the country’s December’s presidential election.
It places him ahead of his main challenger, ruling party’s candidate Muhamudu Bawumia who is also the country’s vice president.
Mahama, 65, a former president of the West African nation and Bawumia, 60, are the two main contenders for the December 7 election.
The duo are testing their popularity to succeed President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is stepping down in January after two terms as leader of the gold-and cocoa-producing nation.
Also on the ballot are 11 other candidates.
Global InfoAnalytics, an Accra-based research group, released poll results on Monday that saw Mahama winning 52%, followed by 41.3% for Bawumia. The poll has a 1.9% error margin.
It showed that voters were mainly concerned about the economy, jobs, education and infrastructure.
During his first term in office as president between 2012-2017, Mahama invested so much in infrastructure but faced criticism for power shortages and economic instability.
His government was also embroiled in corruption allegations, although Mahama was never directly accused.
He is running again as the candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Bawumia, an economist and former central banker, is running for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), which grappled with Ghana’s worst economic crisis in a generation.
Both candidates have presented plans to boost the economy and improve livelihoods.
Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, defaulted on most of its $30 billion external debt in 2022 after years of overstretched borrowing.
The Economist Intelligence Unit predicted an NDC win in October due to the NPP’s economic record. Fitch Solutions published a similar forecast that month.
Both Mahama and Bawumia are from northern Ghana, a historic NDC stronghold where the NPP has been making inroads.
