Mahama narrowly beat Akufo-Addo in 2012 and the opposition challenged the result, which led to an eight-month court tussle.
Advertisement
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) – Voters in Ghana are choosing Wednesday between their incumbent leader and a three-time opposition presidential candidate amid widespread concerns about the credibility of the country’s electoral commission.
In its latest update, the electoral agency said that they had received preliminary results from 90 of out 275 constituencies, but only published the results for 25 of them. The ruling National Democratic Congress says it has lost its parliamentary majority.
There were, however, pockets of celebration by a few supporters of Akufo-Addo in Ho, the Volta Regional capital.
Ghanaians have elected Nana Akufo-Addo, the candidate of the main opposition party, New Patriotic Party, NPP, as their new president.
An NPP spokesman said any further delay by the Commission in certifying results “gives suspicion that (it) is trying to overturn the clearly expressed will of the people”.
It is the third time the government’s been voted out since 2000 – cementing Ghana’s reputation as a standard bearer of democracy in a region blighted by civil wars and coups.
“He is not only doing his best for Ghana but he is also an epitome of peace, which we sometimes take for granted”, one of them, Naa Teye, said. It was his first public comment since the vote.
“After a tense campaign, the Ghanaian leadersays the electoral commission should be allowed to do its work and declare the results”.
An economic liberal, Akufo-Addo focussed on creating more jobs – especially among youth who face growing levels of unemployment – and on modernising the commodity-dependent economy.
He particularly commended the incumbent President for the great courage to call his opponent and concede defeat.
The ballot will also include former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings as the candidate for the National Democratic Party.
Numerous voters in the about 29,000 polling centres in the country are reportedly demanding for a change of government because of the country’s state of the economy.
Advertisement
In contrast, Akufo-Addo has hammered on Ghana’s poor economic growth, the slowest rate in two decades at 3.3 percent in 2016 according to the International Monetary Fund, and has outlined detailed plans to get the economy back on track.
