Vice President of the Republic of Ghana | |
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since 7 January 2017 | |
Style | His/Her Excellency |
Residence | Golden Jubilee House |
Term length | Four years, renewable once |
Inaugural holder | Joseph W.S. deGraft-Johnson Republic established Kow Nkensen Arkaah Current Constitution |
Formation | Republic Day 1 July 1960 1992 Constitution 15 May 1992 |
Salary | unknown |
Website | (in English) Presidency.gov.gh (in English) Ghana.gov.gh |
Constitution |
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Africa portal Politics portal |
The vice-president of Ghana is the second-highest officer in the Government of Ghana. The vice-president, together with the President of Ghana, is directly elected by the people through popular vote to serve a four-year term in office. The vice-president is the first person in the presidential line of succession, and would ascend to the presidency upon the death, resignation, or removal of the president. The current vice-president is Mahamudu Bawumia, who took office on 7 January 2017, under President Nana Akufo-Addo.
The provisions of article 62 of the 1992 Constitution apply to a candidate for election as Vice-President. The candidate must be:
The president and vice president are elected on a single ticket; all presidential candidates must lodge the name of their running mate when filing for election.
If the president dies, resigns, or is permanently incapacitated, the vice-president automatically ascends as president for the balance of the term. A Vice-President who ascends to the presidency before half of the presidential term expires is only allowed to run for a single full term. If more than half of the term has expired, he can run for two terms, whether successive or separated. This provision has been used once, when John Mahama ascended to the presidency after the death of the President, John Atta Mills, in July 2012. He was elected president in his own right that December, and was allowed to run for reelection in 2016 since he had ascended with only six months remaining in Mills' term.
The Vice-President of Ghana must be sworn in by the Chief Justice before the citizens of Ghana at the Independence square in Accra. The Vice-President-elect must repeat the following:
"I,(name) having been elected to the office of Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, do (in the name of the Almighty God swear) (solemnly affirm) that I will be faithful and true to the Republic of Ghana; that I will at all times preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana; and I dedicate myself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana and to do right to all manner of persons.
I further (solemnly swear) (solemnly affirm) that should I at any time break this oath of office, I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it. (So help me God)."
The duties of the vice-president of Ghana are:
The Vice-President is also a member of
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Political party | President | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
1 | Joseph W.S. de Graft-Johnson (1933–1999) |
24 September 1979 | 31 December 1981 (Deposed) |
2 years, 98 days | People's National Party | Hilla Limann | |
2 | Kow Nkensen Arkaah (1927–2001) |
7 January 1993 | 7 January 1997 | 4 years | National Convention Party | Jerry Rawlings | |
3 | John Atta Mills (1944–2012) |
7 January 1997 | 7 January 2001 | 4 years | National Democratic Congress | ||
4 | Aliu Mahama (1946–2012) |
7 January 2001 | 7 January 2009 | 8 years | New Patriotic Party | John Kufuor | |
5 | John Mahama (born 1958) |
7 January 2009 | 24 July 2012 | 3 years, 199 days | National Democratic Congress | John Atta Mills | |
6 | Kwesi Amissah-Arthur (1951–2018) |
6 August 2012 | 7 January 2017 | 4 years, 154 days | National Democratic Congress | John Mahama | |
7 | Mahamudu Bawumia (born 1963) |
7 January 2017 | Incumbent | 7 years, 312 days | New Patriotic Party | Nana Akufo-Addo |
Vice-President | Ethnicity | Religious affiliatiom |
---|---|---|
Joseph W. S. de Graft-Johnson | Fante (Akan) | Methodist |
Kow Nkensen Arkaah | Fante (Akan) | Methodist |
John Atta Mills | Fante (Akan) | Methodist |
Aliu Mahama | Dagomba | Muslim |
John Dramani Mahama | Gonja | Assemblies of God (raised Presbyterian) |
Kwesi Amissah-Arthur | Fante (Akan) | Methodist |
Mahamudu Bawumia | Mamprusi | Muslim |