Mahama, John Dramani [key], 1958–, Ghanaian political leader, grad. Univ. of Ghana, Legon (1981, 1986), Institute of Social Sciences, Moscow (1988). A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mahama was elected to parliament in 1996, serving (1998–2001) as minister of communications. After the NDC left office in 2001, he served as the minority spokesman for communications (2001–4) and foreign affairs (2005–8). He also became (2003) a member of the Pan African Parliament and chairman of its West African Caucus. In 2009 he was elected vice president of Ghana. When President Atta Mills died in July, 2012, Mahama succeeded him. He won the presidency in his own right in Dec., 2012, but lost his bid for a second term four year later amid an economic slowdown.
See his memoir (2012).
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