Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Ghana is on the brink of a crisis after the presidential election held on December the 7th which failed to establish a winner. New Patriotic Party candidate Nana-Akufo-Addo won 49% of the votes whereas the opposition leader from the National Democratic Congress won 48%of the votes. A run-off election was held on Sunday, December the 28th. Tensions mounted in Ghana today before the declaration of the official results where the opposition candidate, John-Atta-Mills claimed victory.
So far, 200 of 230 constituencies were counted as the commission said the NDC had 52.1% of the ballots and NPP has 47.9% of the votes. Atta-Mills confidently told the reporters that he had clearly won the elections and he is just waiting for the Electoral Commission to declare him the winner.
The opposition activists are impatiently waiting outside the headquarters of the Electoral Commission where tear gas and warning shots were fired to disperse the crowd.
NDC’s victory would end the eight year long NPP rule under Kufuor who will have to step down according to the constitutional limit after serving two consecutive terms.
The stakes have been raised due to the discovery of oil which means billions of dollars is awaiting the new administration. Ghana is also a gold producer.
After the flawed elections followed by violence in Kenya and Zimbabwe this year, there is much hope in Ghana to restore the continent’s faith in elections and democracy. Ghana is the first nation to achieve independence in 1957, and Africa’s one of the most democratic countries. Moreover, Ghana has one of the freest Medias in Africa. All these factors encourage optimism in achieving peace and order following the declaration of the final results by the Electoral Commission.
Although election observers reported problems and lapses in the first round which was held on December the 28th, Yakubo Gowon, the head of the West African regional observer team, called the final poll “free, peaceful, transparent and credible”. The election in Ghana is of great importance for the future of democratic elections in Africa.
Huseyin Akturk
Center for African Studies
