President John Dramani Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has beaten his close rival, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), with 325,872 votes in a closely contested election that nearly marred the country’s growing democratic credentials after the main opposition group, the NPP accused the government of rigging the election.
President Mahama, 54, and the son of a former
regional commissioner in the Kwame Nkrumah regime has been a Member of
Parliament, deputy minister of communication and later the substantive
minister. On January 2009, he was sworn in as Vice-President for the
late President John Atta Mills whom he later succeeded on July 25 this
year to serve his unexpired term.
Announcing the result, Electoral Commission (EC)
chairman Mr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said President Mahama polled 5,574,761
votes representing 50,70 per cent as against 5,248,8989 for Nana
Akufo-Addo, representing 47.74 per cent of the total votes cast. Out of
14,158,890 eligible voters, about 11,246,982 people cast their votes.
Speaking soon after the results were declared
President Mahama said his victory was for all Ghanaians and called on
all “political leaders to respect the voice of the people.” This was
timely because before the EC declared the results, officials of the NPP
had accused the government of rigging the election.
It also became clear that Nana Akufo-Addo has not
conceded defeat and this come to support talks by some NPP officials
that they should contest the election result. Chairman of the National
Peace Council, Reverend Emmanuel Asante confirmed on state television
that, the NPP expressed their misgivings to the EC with evidence but,
were asked to seek redress through the appropriate channels.
Nana Addo was beaten by the late President Mills
in the 2008 election in a similar close contest which went into a second
round voting and the EC had to use the results from a single
constituency which was specially organised to determine the leader.
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