USA Africa Dialogue Series - John Mahama takes over as 4th President of Ghana

Following the sudden death of President John Atta Mills, Vice President John

John Mahama has taken over as the President of Ghana.

 

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Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood on Tuesday night swore into office, Mr. John Dramani Mahama in Parliament as the 4th President of the Republic of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces.

President John Mahama takes over the remaining term of Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, who died earlier on Tuesday at the 37 Military Hospital after suffering a short illness.

President Mahama until Tuesday was Vice President for the late President Mills.

Parliament was recalled by Speaker of Parliament Joyce Bamford-Addo for an emergency sitting after an earlier meeting in the day, where a letter was read by the speaker informing MP's of the President's decision to travel to Nigeria on Tuesday night on an official visit.

Both sides of the political divide wore black and red, to signify their grief.

Mr. Mahama returned to Ghana and, from 1991 to 1996, he worked as the Information, Culture and Research Officer at the Embassy of Japan in Accra.

From there he moved to the nongovernmental agency (NGO) PLAN International's Ghana Country Office, where he worked as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager.

Mahama was first elected to the Parliament of Ghana in 1996 to represent the Bole/Bamboi Constituency for a four-year term. In April 1997, Mr. Mahama was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications.

He rose to become the substantive Minister of Communications by November 1998; it was a position he held until January 2001 when the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was the current ruling party, handed over power to the newly elected New Patriotic Party's government.

In 2000, Mahama was re-elected for another four-year term as the Member of Parliament for the Bole/Bamboi Constituency. He was again re-elected in 2004 for a third term. From 2001 to 2004, Mahama served as the Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications. In 2002, he was appointed the Director of Communications for the NDC.

Mahama has seven children. He is married to Lordina Mahama.

It is unclear however, if President John Mahama will be selected by the National Democratic Congress to lead the party in the December elections.**