“This is false” – EC denies gazetting election results with Bawumia obtaining 38.2%

Social media has been awash with claims indicating that the Electoral Commission of Ghana has gazetted the election 2024 results with Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia garnering 38.2%, while John Dramani Mahama obtained 57.7%.

The claim has been shared by notable personalities of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) including Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, a member of the NDC elections directorate, Joyce Bawah Motgari, special aide to John Mahama, and Beatrice Annan, deputy spokesperson of the Mahama campaign.

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has, however, denied the claims. The EC explains that even though it has gazetted the results of the presidential elections, what is being shared on social media is inconsistent with how the EC gazettes presidential election results.

“It’s false. We only state the candidate who got more than 50% of the votes,” Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairperson of the EC told Fact-Check Ghana. “This one is fake. We only gazette and say Kwaku [as an example] was the one who got more than 50 per cent of the votes.”

He explained that historically the EC has gazetted the presidential election results by just indicating who got more than 50 per cent of the votes as it is consistent with Ghana’s Constitution.

“It is only the parliamentary results we gazette with numbers,” Dr Bossman clarified.