Claim: No presidential flagbearer has won on his first attempt 

Source: Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, alias Napo

Verdict: False

Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu

The Vice Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the just-ended December 7, 2024 elections, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has claimed that no presidential flagbearer had won an election on their first attempt. 

In a media interview with GHOne TV, Dr Opoku Prempeh said; “There’s not been any presidential candidate that has won at the first try. President Kufuor won at the second try. President Mills won at the third try. Nana Addo Dankwa won on the third try. John Mahama has stood for four presidential contests…” (19:55 to 20:13)

This fact check seeks to verify the authenticity of the claim. 

Fact-check

GhanaFact investigation shows the claim is not factual. Since the Fourth Republican Constitution came into force in 1992, Ghana has elected a total of five presidents.  

The first Fourth Republican president, the late Jerry John Rawlings became president after winning the 1992 elections. 

In his first shot at a democratic presidency, JJ Rawlings as he is referred to beat four contenders including Hilla Limann, the man he overthrew in 1981 to become a military ruler under the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) government. The PNDC regime ended in 1992 with the promulgation of the current constitution.

Another President in the Fourth Republic to have won the presidency on his first attempt is John Dramani Mahama, the incoming president. Then Vice President Mahama won the presidential race in 2012, after he succeeded his boss, the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, who died a few months before the 2012 general elections. 

Mahama was initially sworn in as President on the night Atta Mills died, he was chosen as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for the 2012 polls, which election he won.

The three other presidents under the Fourth Republic contested more than once before winning. 

  • Kufuor lost in 1996 before winning the 2000 elections. He went on to win re-election in 2004.
  • Atta Mills lost in 2000 and 2004 before winning the 2008 elections.
  • Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo lost 2008 and 2012 before winning the 2016 election. He went on to secure re-election in 2020.

Verdict

With the electoral record of JJ Rawlings and John Mahama, Napo’s claim that all presidential candidates in Ghana could not win on their first attempt is False.