1979 Ghanaian general election

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1979 Ghanaian general election
Flag of Ghana.svg
Presidential election
  1960 18 June 1979 (first round)
9 July 1979 (second round)
1992  
  Hilla Limann (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Hilla Limann Victor Owusu
Party PNP PFP
Popular vote1,118,305686,097
Percentage61.98%38.02%

1979 Ghanaian presidential election (percentage by region).svg
Results by region

President before election

Jerry John Rawlings
Military

President-elect

Hilla Limann
PNP

Parliamentary election
  1969 18 June 1979 1992  

All 140 seats in Parliament
71 seats needed for a majority
PartyVote %Seats
People's National Party 36.4471
Popular Front Party 30.6042
United National Convention 17.5113
Action Congress Party 8.8410
Social Democratic Front 3.903
Independents 0.911
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

General elections were held in Ghana on 18 June 1979, with a second round of the presidential election on 9 July 1979. The presidential election resulted in victory for Hilla Limann of the People's National Party, who received 62% of the vote in the run-off, [1] whilst his PNP won 71 of the 140 seats in Parliament. According to one scholar, the elections were conducted "in as free and fair a manner as might be considered humanly possible under local conditions" and the losing candidates publicly accepted defeat. [2] Around 5,070,000 people were registered to vote. [1]

Contents

The Electoral Commissioner during the elections was Joseph Kingsley-Nyinah, an Appeal Court Judge who was appointed by the Supreme Military Council (SMC). [3] Although the SMC was overthrown on 4 June 1979, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council military government which replaced it allowed the elections to proceed just two weeks later.

Results

President

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Hilla Limann People's National Party 631,55935.321,118,30561.98
Victor Owusu Popular Front Party 533,92829.86686,09738.02
William Ofori Atta United National Convention 311,26517.41
Frank Bernasko Action Congress Party 167,7759.38
Ibrahim Mahama Social Democratic Front 66,4453.72
John Bilson Third Force Party 49,1042.75
R. P. Baffour Independent8,8120.49
Kwame NyantehIndependent8,4900.47
Mark Diamond Addy Independent5,9570.33
Imoru Ayarna Independent4,8740.27
Total1,788,209100.001,804,402100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,070,000
Source: Nohlen et al.

Parliament

PartyVotes%Seats
People's National Party 645,08036.4471
Popular Front Party 541,65930.6042
United National Convention 310,06217.5113
Action Congress Party 156,4848.8410
Social Democratic Front 69,0523.903
Third Force Party 31,8871.800
Independents16,1650.911
Total1,770,389100.00140
Source: African Elections Database

Seats won by region

Party Central Accra Eastern Ashanti Brong-Ahafo Volta North Upper Western Total
People's National Party86112211715971
Popular Front Party0161910041142
United National Convention03410500013
Action Congress Party70000000310
Social Democratic Front0000003003
Independents0000100001
Total151021221316141613140
Source: Jeffries [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p438 ISBN   0-19-829645-2
  2. 1 2 Jeffries, Richard (July 1980). "The Ghanaian Elections of 1979". African Affairs. 79 (3): 401. JSTOR   722047.
  3. "Profile of Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, the Next NPP Flagbearer". VibeGhana. 25 April 2014. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2022.