The 2024 campaign electoral season has seen some individuals and groups earning recognitions through factors such as their resilience, media presence, determination, leadership and influence.
These individuals, following the climax of the election, have become standout personalities, having made lasting impacts during the campaign and election season.
Here are a few of them as compiled by GhanaWeb:
Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang
Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the running mate of the National Democratic Congress for the 2024 presidential election, became the first vice president-elect of Ghana following the declaration of the final results by the Electoral Commission.
In former President John Dramani Mahama’s quest to return to power after losing the 2016 presidential election, he chose Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the 2020 election.
Despite failing in their bid in 2020, John Mahama re-nominated the former Minister of Education and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast as his partner for the 2024 general election.In the face of gender disadvantage and other factors against her nomination, the John Mahama-Opoku-Agyemang partnership has delivered the biggest presidential victory in Ghana since 2000.
Their ticket beat 12 other candidates by polling 56.55% of the total valid votes, as against their closest contender, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Matthew Opoku Prempeh of the New Patriotic Party, who obtained 41.61% of the total valid votes.
NDC Eagle Eye
With lessons from the 2020 elections, the NDC, as part of its restructuring and planning for the 2024 election, set up what it defined as a robust structure fit for the purpose of policing the electoral process and protecting ballots.
Dubbed “Eagle Eye,” the structure included polling agents trained to protect the party’s interest at the polling stations, party security officials who were quick to respond to incidents, and the party’s collation team who collated the results.
Embedded in the Eagle Eye were several officials and stalwarts of the party who served in various critical roles that ultimately ensured the party’s victory.
The Eagle Eye was led by the party’s Director of Elections and IT, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, and was critical to the electoral processes, including the printing of ballot papers.
In the high-stakes environment of Ghana’s 2024 presidential election, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia emerged as a star for his graciousness and commitment to national unity.
Long before the Electoral Commission officially announced the results, Dr. Bawumia conceded defeat, a move aimed at easing the tension that often accompanies such closely contested elections.
By prioritizing the nation’s well-being over political rivalry, the vice president demonstrated a level of statesmanship that resonated deeply with Ghanaians.
His actions helped to set the grounds for the declaration of the presidential results by the Electoral Commission and peaceful environment post the declaration.
Dr. Mahamud Bawumia, who was the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, conceded defeat a day after the December 7, election citing results collated by his team, giving former President Mahama of the National Democratic Congress an overwhelming victory.
In the Electoral Commission’s declaration of the results on December 9, Mahama polled 56.55% of the total valid votes, beating 12 other candidates, including Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who polled 41.6% of the total valid votes.
Musa Dankwa
Despite having a proven track record of predicting several elections, pollster Musa Dankwa faced a heavy task of defending his polls for the 2024 general election.
However, the Executive Director of Global Info Analytics, who had predicted a resounding victory for the National Democratic Congress in the presidential and parliamentary elections, maintained confidence in his predictions.
In late November, he reaffirmed his confidence in his polls, stating: “On December 1, I will announce the winner of the election. If my predictions go wrong, they can take my head off. We are very confident. Nobody else has seen what we have seen in the data. I believe in data, and I will never go against it. On December 1, we will tell Ghanaians who is going to win and by what margin,” Musa Dankwa said in an interview with Adakabre Frimpong Manso on Neat FM.
He added, “Let’s look at the NPP primary. If we had gotten that one wrong, they would have finished us by now.”
Some of his predictions include accurately stating that the constituency with the largest voter population, Dome Kwabenya, which has been dominated by the NPP over the years, would be lost to the NDC in the parliamentary election.
He accurately predicted that the NPP would garner 65% of the votes in the presidential election in the Ashanti Region, which happens to be the stronghold of the ruling party, where the party obtained over 75% of the votes in the 2020 elections.
Nacee
Award-winning musician, Nana Sei, known by his stage name Nacee, emerged as one of the stars of the electoral season, composing back-to-back songs that resonated with supporters of the NDC.
The multi-talented artist, who is also a producer and a writer, was to the NDC campaign what the legendary Daddy Lumba was to the campaign of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Since 2016, Nacee has composed several songs for John Dramani Mahama and the NDC, which have gone on to become mainstream hits that resonated with the general Ghanaian population through skillful melodies and rhythmic arrangements.
‘Kwen Kwen,’ one of the campaign songs released just a few weeks before the election, soared to the top of Apple Music Ghana’s Top 100 chart, becoming the first political campaign song to reach the top position of the prestigious chart.
Speaking in an interview a few days before the election, former President Mahama paid glowing tribute to Nacee, commending, among other things, the research that goes into the composition of his songs.
“I don’t write the songs. Everyone has their capabilities, and you’ll know from my songs like Onaapo and 24-Hour Economy, among others, that Nacee is a genius and knows his stuff. I think he is the best. What happens is that anytime there is an election, I call Nacee and tell him, then he will produce the masterpiece for the election. It takes him several months. The recent one took almost six months. He does his research and collects all the data to produce the songs. He is really talented,” he told GBC’s Sunrise FM in Koforidua.
Malik Basintale
Malik Basintale, Deputy National Communications Officer of the NDC, is one of the popular figures to have emerged from the 2024 political campaign season.
His activeness as the Deputy National Communications Officer of the NDC has been felt across the country, having traversed the length and breadth of Ghana to sell his party’s presidential and parliamentary candidates.
Whether it was him riding a motorbike with his party folks or engaging in heated media debates, Malik Basintale has marketed himself as one of the biggest names in the current campaign season, earning him praises from the Flagbearer of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama, who refers to him as the ‘Basintale Boy.’
He also led the party’s appeal to the Ghanaian youth and concentrated part of his campaign on various tertiary institutions across the country.
He has been a fast-rising personality in Ghana’s politics, having started from the grassroots and being elected the youngest regional executive of the NDC in the Northern Region when he was elected the party’s deputy communications officer for the region.
Kalyjay
Activist Joshua Buemortey Boye-Doe, popularly known as Kalyjay, officially joined the NDC campaign in the very last week of the campaign season.
However, the activist with a commanding following and influence on social media, had been critical of the current government even before his official endorsement of the NDC.
Contrary to some critics who argued against the influence of social media on elections, Kalyjay’s contribution to the NDC’s campaign and victory bears testimony to the overall impact of social media on public decision-making.
Kalyjay has, over the years, built a brand as an influential person on social media and has also led several civil activism campaigns, including the #FixTheCountry campaign and the recent Stop the Galamsey protest.
Watch the full address made by Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as she was declared the first female vice president-elect of the country below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
