List of heads of state of Ghana

This is a list of the heads of state of Ghana, from the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the present day.

From 1957 to 1960 the head of state under the Ghana Independence Act 1957 was the Queen of Ghana, Elizabeth II, who was also the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen was represented in Ghana by a Governor-General. Ghana became a republic under the Constitution of 1960 and the monarch and Governor-General were replaced by an executive President.

Monarch (1957–1960)

The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne.

Queen (Born-Died)			Reign			Royal House	Prime Minister
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Start	End	Duration
1		Elizabeth II (1926–)	6 March 1957	1 July 1960	3 years, 117 days	House of Windsor	Nkrumah

Governors-General

Standard of the Governor-General of Ghana

The Governor-General was the representative of the monarch in Ghana and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The Governor-General was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Governor-General was appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of Ghana without the involvement of the British government. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government.

Status

  Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government

Governor-General (Born-Died)			Term of Office			Monarch	Prime Minister
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took Office	Left Office	Duration
1		Sir Charles Arden-Clarke (1898–1962)	6 March 1957	24 June 1957	110 days	Elizabeth II	Nkrumah
2		The Earl of Listowel (1906–1997)	24 June 1957	1 July 1960	3 years, 7 days	Elizabeth II	Nkrumah

First Republic (1960–1966)

Under the 1960 Constitution, the first constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the President replaced the monarch as executive head of state. The President was elected by Parliament for a -year term. In the event of a vacancy the served as Acting President.

President (Born-Died)			Term of office			Political party (at time of election)
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took office	Left office	Duration
1		Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972)	1 July 1960	26 February 1966 (Deposed)	5 years, 240 days	Convention People's Party

Military rule (1966–1969)

Head of State (Born-Died)			Term of Office			Military
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took Office	Left Office	Duration
2		Lieutenant-General Joseph Ankrah (1915–1992)	24 February 1966	2 April 1969	3 years, 37 days	National Liberation Council
3		Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa (1936–1979)	2 April 1969	3 September 1969	154 days	National Liberation Council

Second Republic (1969–1972)

President (Born-Died)			Term of office			Political party (at time of election)
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took office	Left office	Duration
(3)		Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa (1936–1979)	3 September 1969	7 August 1970	338 days	Military
4		Nii Amaa Ollennu (1906–1986)	7 August 1970	31 August 1970	24 days	Independent
5		Edward Akufo-Addo (1906–1979)	31 August 1970	13 January 1972 (Deposed)	1 year, 135 days	Independent

Military rule (1972–1979)

General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup d'état which overthrown the President Akufo-Addo, Prime Minister Abrefa Busia and his government, all political parties and Parliament was also dissolved.

Lieutenant General Fred Akuffo led a coup d'état which overthrew the General Acheampong then Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led a coup d'état which overthrown the Supreme Military Council

Head of State (Born-Died)			Term of Office			Military
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took Office	Left Office	Duration
6		General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong (1931–1979)	13 January 1972	9 October 1975	6 years, 173 days	National Redemption Council
			9 October 1975	5 July 1978 (Deposed)		Supreme Military Council
7		Lieutenant-General Fred Akuffo (1937–1979)	5 July 1978	4 June 1979 (Deposed)	1 year, 28 days	Supreme Military Council
8		Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings (1947–)	4 June 1979	24 September 1979	112 days	Armed Forces Revolutionary Council

Third Republic (1979–1981)

Under the 1979 Constitution the President is head of both state and government. The President is elected by Parliament and serves a four-year term that expires at the next general election; a President may serve a maximum of two terms. In the event of a vacancy the Vice President serves as Acting President.

President (Born-Died)			Term of office			Political party (at time of election)
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took office	Left office	Duration
9		Hilla Limann (1934–1998)	24 September 1979	31 December 1981 (Deposed)	2 years, 98 days	People's National Party

Military rule (1981–1993)

Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led a coup d'état which overthrew President Limann and his government, all political parties and Parliament were also dissolved.

Head of State (Born-Died)			Term of Office			Military
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took Office	Left Office	Duration
(8)		Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings (1947–)	31 December 1981	7 January 1993	11 years, 7 days	Provisional National Defence Council

Fourth Republic (1993–present)

Under the current Constitution the President is head of both state and government. The President is elected by Parliament and serves a four-year term that expires at the next general election; a President may serve a maximum of two terms. In the event of a vacancy the Vice President serves as Acting President.

President (Born-Died)			Term of office			Political party (at time of election)
#	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Took office	Left office	Duration
(8)		Jerry Rawlings (1947–)	7 January 1993	7 January 2001	8 years	National Democratic Congress
10		John Kufuor (1938–)	7 January 2001	7 January 2009	8 years	New Patriotic Party
11		John Atta Mills (1944–2012)	7 January 2009	24 July 2012 (Died in Office)	3 years, 199 days	National Democratic Congress
12	60px	John Dramani Mahama (1958–)	24 July 2012	Incumbent	(as of 25 April 2024)	National Democratic Congress

Living former heads of state

Name	Term/Reign	Office	Date of birth
Elizabeth II	1957–1960	Queen of Ghana	(1926-04-21) April 21, 1926
Jerry Rawlings	1979 1981–1993 1993–2001	Military ruler President of Ghana	(1947-06-22) June 22, 1947
John Kufuor	2001–2009	President of Ghana	(1938-12-08) December 8, 1938

External links

• World Statesmen – Ghana
• Rulers.org – Ghana