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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Ghana |
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Constitution |
Legislative |
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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 62.0% of the votes 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]
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means "Warrior King" in the Soninke language.
Hilla Limann was the President of Ghana from 24 September 1979 to 31 December 1981. Eventually he became a diplomat, and served in Switzerland. Limann, whose original last name was Babini, was born in the northern Ghanaian town of Gwollu in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region to a poor family. He managed to gain an excellent education, and took up an academic career.
The People's National Party (PNP) was the ruling party in Ghana during the Third Republic (1979-1981).
Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
Hilla Limann | People's National Party | 631,559 | 35.32 | 1,118,305 | 62.0 |
Victor Owusu | Popular Front Party | 533,928 | 29.86 | 686,097 | 38.0 |
William Ofori Atta | United National Convention | 311,265 | 17.41 | ||
Frank Bernasko | Action Congress Party | 167,775 | 9.38 | ||
Ibrahim Mahama | Social Democratic Front | 66,445 | 3.72 | ||
John Bilson | Third Force Party | 49,104 | 2.75 | ||
R. P. Baffour | Independent | 8,812 | 0.49 | ||
Kwame Nyanteh | Independent | 8,480 | 0.47 | ||
Mark Diamond Addy | Independent | 5,959 | 0.33 | ||
Imoru Ayarna | Independent | 4,874 | 0.27 | ||
Total | 1,788,209 | 100 | 1,804,402 | 100 | |
Source: Nohlen et al. |
Party | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
People's National Party | 645,080 | 36.44 | 71 |
Popular Front Party | 541,659 | 30.60 | 42 |
United National Convention | 310,062 | 17.51 | 13 |
Action Congress Party | 156,484 | 8.84 | 10 |
Social Democratic Front | 69,052 | 3.90 | 3 |
Third Force Party | 31,887 | 1.80 | 0 |
Independents | 16,165 | 0.91 | 1 |
Total | 1,770,379 | 100 | 140 |
Source: African Elections Database |
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