Ghana's ex-leader makes surprising comeback with bold economic promises
Former Ghanaian president returns to power after two previous election losses. **John Dramani Mahama** won with plans to fix economy‚ renegotiate IMF deal and boost infrastructure spending
John Dramani Mahama secured a come-back win in Ghanaʼs Dec-9 election‚ with his rival accepting defeat after early results showed a clear win. The 66-year old ex-president (who lost power about 8 years ago) ran on a promise to fix Ghanaʼs money problems
His path to leadership wasnt straight-forward — he first became president when his boss passed away in 2012‚ having served as vice-president before that. Back then Mahama beat the same opponent he faced this time but lost to him twice after that
The son of a well-to-do rice merchant Mahama got his education at top schools: first in Ghana then in Moscow studying mind-science. His work-life started in the 80s; he got into politics and became:
- communications minister in late 90s
- parliament member for many years
- vice-president under Mills
- president after Mills died
His first time as president saw lots of building projects but also some power-cuts and money issues. Now hes planning to re-do Ghanaʼs $3-billion IMF deal and put $10-billion into making things better
This election is not just another election; its a defining moment for our nation
Mahama likes reading and writing — he even wrote for big papers like New York Times. Heʼs married with 5 kids and remembers seeing Ghanaʼs first president kicked out when he was just a kid
