# Vice President of Ghana

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 Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who took office on 7 January 2025, under President John Mahama. She is the first female vice president in Ghana's history.

## Eligibility

The provisions of article 62 of the 1992 Constitution apply to a candidate for election as Vice-President. The candidate must be:
* (a) a citizen of Ghana by birth
* (b) attained the age of thirty-five years or above
* (c) be otherwise qualified to be elected a Member of Parliament, except that the disqualifications set out in paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of clause (2) of article 94 of this Constitution shall not be removed, in respect of any such person, by a presidential pardon or by the lapse of time as provided for in clause (5) of that article.
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.

## Oath of office

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)."

## Duties

The duties of the vice-president of Ghana are:
* presiding of various meetings in absence of the President
* acting President when the president is out of the country
The Vice-President is also a member of
* The National Security Council
* The Armed Forces Council
* The Police Service Council
* The Prisons Service Council

## List of vice-presidents of Ghana (1979–present)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | President |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party | President |
| 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 | Jerry Rawlings |
| 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 | 7 January 2025 | 8 years | New Patriotic Party | Nana Akufo-Addo |
| 8 | | Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang (born 1951) | 7 January 2025 | Incumbent | 55 days | National Democratic Congress | John Mahama |

### Demographics

| 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 |
| Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang | Fante (Akan) | Methodist |

## Vice presidents by time in office

| Rank | Vice president | Political party | Total time in office | Cause of end of term |
| 1 | Aliu Mahama | New Patriotic Party | 8 years | Natural expiration |
| 1 | Mahamudu Bawumia | New Patriotic Party | 8 years | Natural expiration |
| 3 | Kwesi Amissah-Arthur | National Democratic Congress | 4 years, 154 days | Natural expiration |
| 4 | Kow Nkensen Arkaah | National Convention Party | 4 years | Natural expiration |
| 4 | John Atta Mills | National Democratic Congress | 4 years | Natural expiration |
| 6 | John Mahama | National Democratic Congress | 3 years, 199 days | Death of John Atta Mills |
| 7 | Joseph de Graft-Johnson | People's National Party | 2 years, 98 days | Deposed |
| 8 | Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang | National Democratic Congress | 55 days | In office |