Ghana opposition calls on president to concede vote defeat

Twice since 2000 voters have kicked out the government of the day.

“We the NPP are quietly confident that we have won a famous and historic victory”, Akufo-Addo said, calling for his supporters to be patient and peaceful while the electoral agency tallies the results.

Still, electoral observers are urging the commission to “speed up the process of announcing results”, said Christopher Fomunyoh, regional director for the US-based National Democratic Institute.

Ghana voted on Wednesday in what looks set to be a tight race as President John Mahama seeks a second and final term against the backdrop of a West African economy that has slowed since he took power.

Mahama was being challenged by six other candidates including Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), and Ivor Greenstreet of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday Anyidoho accused the NPP of stoking fire by declaring Akufo-Addo was leading by 64 per cent. “Peace and everything depends on the fairness of the election”, NPP spokesman Nana Akomea said.

Both the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, who both held cabinets in the government in the past decade, attract different factions of Ghanians.

After voting yesterday, Mahama voiced confidence the election would “consolidate that democracy further”. Privately-owned Joy FM put Akufo-Addo at 48.96 percent and Mahama 48.72 percent with 76 of 275 constituencies counted. With seven candidates on the ballot, the victor needs an outright majority of the vote to avoid a runoff.

As Ghanaians head to the polls today to elect candidates who will govern the country for the next four years, the most common term on their lips will likely be “dumsor”.

Election fever gripped Ghana’s capital Accra, with people out in the streets late into the night as counting of the thumbprint votes got under way, many standing behind red police lines and closely observing the blue-shirted election officials.

Ghana’s presidential elections are being held even as the country struggles to come to terms with the effect of falling commodity prices in the global market, rising unemployment, and spiraling inflation that has contributed to the country’s slowest economic growth rate in almost two decades.

The EC has asked the political parties to give it up to 72 hours to collate and certify the results from the constituencies before declaration.

The NPP’s Asutifu South candidate said she and her team had been assaulted by men holding guns and cutlasses, leaving one of her team in a critical condition.

“We want to assure you that we can not change the results in any way”.