Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has won a second term after a tightly contested presidential election, the country’s electoral commission announced on Wednesday, defeating long-time opponent John Mahama.
Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) received 6,730,413 (51.59) percent of votes while Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) received 6,214,889 (47.36) percent of votes, the commission’s chairperson Jean Adukwei Mensa said at a press conference.
Akufo-Addo, won in eight of the 16 regions while Mr Mahama won in the other eight.
Jean Mensah, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, said the final results were without that of Techiman South because it was being contested. She, however, added that the total votes in the constituency is 128,018 and will not change the outcome of the result.
Mensa said at the press briefing stated;
On the basis of the foregoing election results and by the powers vested in me as the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the interim officer of the election, it is my duty and honour to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as president-elect of the Republic of Ghana.
Monday’s presidential and parliamentary vote has been viewed by observers as generally free and fair.
However, Mahama on Tuesday accused Akufo-Addo of showing “credentials that are very undemocratic” and harnessing the military to sway the outcome.
The 62-year-old former president said;
You cannot use the military to try and overturn some of the results in constituencies that we have won. We will resist any attempts to subvert the sovereign will of the Ghanaian people.
He made the accusations after rumours circulated on social media that he had conceded defeat but he refuted the claim, saying he has not congratulated anyone.
Mahama and Akufo-Addo, 76, are old rivals who have faced off at the ballot box twice before.
Mahama was president for four years until 2016, before being succeeded by Akufo-Addo. Both of those elections were determined by small margins.
Despite the sharp words, Ghana has a history of electoral stability and grievances are typically pursued through the courts.
