Ghanaian general election, 1979

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Ghanaian presidential election, 1979

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  1960 18 June 1979 (first round)
9 July 1979 (second round)
1992  

  Hilla Limann.jpg Noimage.png
Nominee Hilla Limann Victor Owusu
Party PNP PFP
Popular vote1,118,305533,928
Percentage62.0%38.0%

President before election

Jerry John Rawlings
Military

President-elect

Hilla Limann
PNP

Coat of arms of Ghana.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Ghana
Constitution

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 Republic in West Africa

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 Third President of the Republic of Ghana

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).

Contents

Results

President

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Hilla Limann People's National Party 631,55935.321,118,30562.0
Victor Owusu Popular Front Party 533,92829.86686,09738.0
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 Nyanteh Independent8,4800.47
Mark Diamond Addy Independent5,9590.33
Imoru Ayarna Independent4,8740.27
Total1,788,2091001,804,402100
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
Total1,770,379100140
Source: African Elections Database

See also

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References

  1. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p438 ISBN   0-19-829645-2
  2. Jeffries, Richard (July 1980). "The Ghanaian Elections of 1979". African Affairs. 79 (3): 401. JSTOR   722047.