49 Facts About John Mahama

John Mahama took office as president for the first time on 24 July 2012, when President Mills died in office.

John Mahama is the first vice president to assume the presidency following the death of his predecessor, and is the first head of state of Ghana to have been born after Ghana's independence in 1957.

John Mahama was elected in the December 2012 election to serve a full-term as president.

John Mahama contested re-election for a second term in the 2016 election, but lost to the New Patriotic Party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo.

John Mahama was again the NDC's candidate for president in the 2020 election, where he lost to Akufo-Addo.

John Mahama was re-elected president in the 2024 election, defeating the then incumbent vice president Mahamudu Bawumia, making him the first president in Ghanaian history to be democratically elected to a non-consecutive second term.

John Mahama was born on 29 November 1958 in Damongo, an area in present-day West Gonja District of the Northern Region.

John Mahama's father served as a senior presidential advisor during Ghana's Third Republic under Hilla Limann who was overthrown in 1981 by Jerry Rawlings.

John Mahama had his primary education at the Accra Newtown Experimental School before going to boarding school at Achimota Primary School.

John Mahama completed secondary school at Ghana Secondary School in Tamale.

John Mahama proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, receiving a bachelor's degree in history in 1981 and a postgraduate diploma in communication studies in 1986.

John Mahama studied at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow in the Soviet Union, specializing in social psychology; he obtained a postgraduate degree in 1988.

John Mahama participated in a management development course organized by Plan International in Nairobi, Kenya.

John Mahama was promoted to the post of Minister of Communications in November 1998, serving in that post until January 2001, when the ruling National Democratic Congress handed over power to the New Patriotic Party government.

John Mahama was again re-elected in 2004 for a third term.

From 2001 to 2004, John Mahama served as the Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications.

John Mahama served as the Deputy Minister of Communications between April 1997 and November 1998.

John Mahama was a member of European and Pan African Parliaments' Ad hoc Committee on Cooperation.

In 2005, John Mahama became the Minority Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.

John Mahama is a member of the UNDP Advisory Committee on Conflict Resolution in Ghana.

John Mahama served as the Chairman of the National Economic Management Team, the Armed Forces Council of Ghana, the Decentralisation and Implementation Committee and the Police Council of Ghana in this capacity.

John Mahama had stated that his administration was deeply committed to continuing the Better Ghana Agenda started under President Mills.

Thirteen African Heads of State, one Prime Minister, two vice-presidents and 18 government delegations across the world attended his inaugural ceremony at the Black Star Square in Accra on 7 January 2013, when John Mahama was sworn in to begin his own four-year term.

John Mahama is one of Africa's most-followed leaders on the social networking sites, Twitter and Facebook.

On 21 January 2016, on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, John Mahama became co-chair of the Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group which consists of 17 eminent persons assisting the UN Secretary-General in the campaign to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that world leaders unanimously adopted in September 2015.

John Mahama sought a second full term at the December 2016 general election.

John Mahama was eligible for a second full term since he ascended to the presidency with.

John Mahama was defeated by main opposition leader Akufo-Addo in a rematch from four years earlier, and conceded defeat on election night.

In 2016 John Mahama faced accusations of bribery and corruption after an investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni detailed the reception of a Ford Expedition valued at $100,000 from Burkinabe contractor Djibril Kanazoe.

In February 2019, John Mahama was confirmed as the candidate of the opposition NDC to contest in the 2020 elections, against incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo, who unseated John Mahama in 2016, capitalizing on an economy that was slowing due to falling prices for gold, oil and cocoa exports.

John Mahama won the NDC primaries by securing an overwhelming 213,487 votes representing 95.23 percent of the total valid votes cast with the other six contenders managing with about 4 percent of the votes.

John Mahama visited Upper West, Upper East, North East, Northern and Savannah Regions in the first phase.

John Mahama met Chiefs and Queens, religious leaders and interacted with the media.

On 14 May 2023, John Mahama won and was confirmed during the NDC presidential primary as the party's presidential candidate in the 2024 General elections.

On 8 December 2024, the candidate of the New Patriotic Party and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia called John Mahama to concede defeat in the 2024 General Elections.

John Mahama was inaugurated for his second term as president on 7 January 2025.

On 10 February 2025, John Mahama ordered a ban on non-essential travel by government officials and said that authorised travels must be done in a modest manner.

On 22 April 2025, John Mahama ordered the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, citing a preliminary investigation that found sufficient grounds for an inquiry into her conduct.

John Mahama is a Christian, born and raised a Presbyterian but is a member of the Assemblies of God, Ghana by marriage.

John Mahama's family is multi-faith, consisting of Christians and Muslims.

John Mahama's essays have been published in the Daily Graphic, Ebony, Huffington Post, the Louisville Courier-Journal, the New York Times and The Root.

John Mahama is a devotee of Afrobeat music, especially that of Fela Kuti.

Apart from reading, John Mahama has a strong interest in innovation particularly the use of technology in agriculture being a farmer himself.

John Mahama takes keen interest in the opportunities for simplifying and making tasks easier with the use of information and communications technology, and considers the ICT industry one of the sectors that can play a significant role in economic transformation and job creation.

John Mahama is the elder brother of businessman Ibrahim John Mahama who owns Dzata Cement.

John Mahama was awarded the Great Cross of the National Order of Benin, the highest award in Benin, by President Yayi Boni.

In February 2017, John Mahama received the 2016 African Political Leader of the Year Award from the African Leadership Magazine in South Africa.

In October 2022, John Mahama was honored by Liberty University with a Global Leadership and Economic Impact Award in Virginia, USA.

In March 2024, John Mahama was conferred with the chieftaincy title, Kuoro Sabinwero Wajia I by Kuoro Abu Diyaka Sukabe Ninia, the Paramount Chief of the Buwaa Traditional Area in the Upper West Region.