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 citizen of Ghana by birth
- attained the age of thirty-five years or above
- be otherwise qualified to be elected a Member of Parliament, except that the disqualifications set out in paragraphs,, and of clause 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 of that article.
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 Independence Square in Accra. The vice-president-elect must repeat the following:"I, having been elected to the office of Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, do 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 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.."
Duties
The duties of the vice-president of Ghana are:- presiding over various meetings in the absence of the president
- acting president when the president is out of the country
- The National Security Council
- The Armed Forces Council
- The Police Service Council
- The Prisons Service Council
Vice presidents by time in office
Demographics
| Vice-President | Ethnicity | Religious affiliatiom |
| Joseph W. S.Johnson | Fante | Methodist |
| Kow Nkensen Arkaah | Senya Beraku | Methodist |
| John Atta Mills | Fante | Methodist |
| Aliu Mahama | Dagomba | Muslim |
| John Dramani Mahama | Gonja | Assemblies of God |
| Kwesi Amissah-Arthur | Fante | Methodist |
| Mahamudu Bawumia | Mamprusi | Muslim |
| Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang | Fante | Methodist |