Alhaji Aliu Mahama (3 March 1946 – 16 November 2012) was a Ghanaian engineer and politician who was

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. A member of the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

, he was Ghana's first Muslim Vice-President.

Early life and education

An ethnic Dagomba, Aliu Mahama as a young man studied at the Government Secondary School in

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

from 1960 to 1967 for his Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates. He proceeded to the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

from 1967 to 1971 where he obtained the

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Building Technology Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health. Archi ...

. Mahama was also an Alumnus of the

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is a public co-educational university spread over four campuses (Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi) and made up of six schools, ten research centers located at Greenhill in Accra ...

(GIMPA). In order to sharpen and deepen his management and leadership skills, he obtained two certificates from the Institute in Project Planning and Management and in Leadership.

Career

He started his working career at the

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga ( Frafra: '), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District and Upper East Region of Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bolgatanga has over 2012 settlement and a populat ...

regional office of the State Construction Corporation as an Engineer/Construction from 1972 to 1975. He was promoted to Assistant Regional Manager and posted to the

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper popu ...

Regional Office of the corporation from 1975 to 1976. He held the position of Regional Manager in charge of the Northern Region, Tamale from June 1976 to August 1982. In 1982, he successfully established his own

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

and general construction firm, LIDRA Limited, and became its managing director. He was Chairman of the Northern Regional Contractors Association from 1996 until the December 2000 elections. He was a Councilor on the

Yendi Yendi is a town and the capital of Yendi Municipal district in the Northern Region of Ghana. As of 2012 the population of Yendi was 52,008 people. It is the seat of the King of the Dagombas. Climate Economy The people of Yendi are mainl ...

District Council in 1978 and an Assemblyman on the

Municipal Assembly in 1990. He was also Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Tamale-Louisville Sister State Committee. He was a board member of several secondary schools in the Northern Region including the Tamale

Polytechnic Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences. Polytechnic may also refer to: Educatio ...

. He also served as a board member of the Ghanaian Premier League side

Real Tamale United Real Tamale United, often abbreviated as RTU, is a football club based in Tamale, Northern Region of Ghana. The team previously competed in the Ghana Division One League, after being relegated to the second tier in the 2013–14 Ghana Football ...

, where he was a founding member.

Personal life

He was married to Hajia

Ramatu Mahama Ramatu Mahama ( Egala, 15 October 1951 – 7 April 2022) was a Ghanaian educationist who served as the second lady of Ghana from 2001 to 2009. Mahama was the wife of the 4th vice-president of Ghana, the late Aliu Mahama. Early life and career ...

. Their son

Farouk Aliu Mahama Umar Farouk Aliu Mahama (born 27 April 1981) is a Ghanaian politician who is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He is the member of parliament for the Yendi Constituency after winning in the 2020 parliamentary elections. Early life and ...

is currently the Member of Parliament for Yendi constituency and the board chair of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Corporation.

Retirement

After two terms as vice-president, he sought the

's nomination for the 2008 presidential election, but at the party's convention in December 2007, he was unsuccessful, obtaining only 6% (146 votes) of total delegate ballots cast. He then retired from politics."Aliu Mahama Was Ghana's First Muslim Vice President"
Modern Ghana, 19 November 2012.

Death

The Ghanaian media circulated rumours of his death on 14 November 2012 at the

Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital located in the Ablekuma South Metropolitan District in Accra, Ghana. It is the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is a teaching hospital affiliate ...

but the story was quickly denied the same day by his family and hospital authorities. He eventually died at the same hospital on 16 November 2012 at the age of 66 from a heart-related condition and complications from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. He died almost four months after Ghanaian President

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...

died.

State funeral

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, attended by hundreds, was held for him on 18 November 2012 per Islamic funeral prayer rites (Janaza) at the Independence Square in the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

. In addition, he was accorded ceremonial military honours including an army procession accompanying the

cortège Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engli ...

and a

19-gun salute A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...

usually given to departed vice-presidents.

Burial

His body was later flown in a

Ghana Air Force The Ghana Air Force (GHF) is the aerial warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). The GHF, along with the Ghanaian army (GA) and Ghanaian navy (GN), make up the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF), which are controlled ...

jet to Tamale in the Northern Region for burial at his private residence. He was buried in Kalpohin and his wife Ramatu Aliu Mahama was also buried closer to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahama, Aliu 1946 births 2012 deaths Vice-presidents of Ghana New Patriotic Party politicians People from Northern Region (Ghana) Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology alumni Ghanaian Muslims Dagomba people Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration alumni Tamale Senior High School alumni Real Tamale United