Friday, July 27, 2012

John Dramani Mahama

John Dramani Mahama (born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician and the current President of Ghana. He was the Vice President of Ghana from 2009 to 2012, and he took office as President on 24 July 2012 following the death of his predecessor, President John Atta Mills. A communications expert, historian, and writer, he was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2009 and Minister of Communications from 1998 to 2001.

Early Years
Mahama was born in Damongo, in the Damango-Daboya constituency of Ghana. His father Emmanuel Adama Mahama was the first Member of Parliament for the West Gonja Constituency and the first Regional Commissioner of the Northern Region during Ghana's First Republic.

He attended Achimota School, Primary Department and The University of Ghana, receiving a bachelor's degree in history in 1981 and a postgraduate degree in communication studies in 1986. Following this, Mahama travelled to the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow, Soviet Union for further studies.

Early career
After completing his education, Mahama returned to Ghana and, from 1991 to 1996, worked as the Information, Culture and Research Officer at the Embassy of Japan in Accra.

From there he moved to the non-governmental agency (NGO) PLAN International's Ghana Country Office, where he worked as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager.

As President
In line with Ghana's constitution, Mahama became President of Ghana on 24 July 2012 on the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. The ruling National Democratic Congress after a long debate on the party’s preparations toward who succeeds the late President J.E.A Mills as flagbearer for the December polls, has decided to go for congress on 1 September 2012. The party is expected to endorse President John Dramani Mahama as flagbearer in the 2012 General Elections.

Personal life and interests
He is married to Lordina Mahama, with whom he has seven children. He is a Christian. He has a keen interest in environmental affairs, particularly the problem of plastic pollution in Africa, which he committed himself to addressing during his tenure as Vice President.

From : www.wikipedia.org