Ghana Polls: Opposition calls on president to concede defeat

Electoral commission spokesman Eric Dzakpasu said that it would need to verify some results in precincts where the number of votes cast appeared to exceed the number of registered voters, but it would start releasing returns later on Thursday.

The NPP said Akufo-Addo has won 4.6-million votes, against 3.64-million for Mahama, citing its own calculation of votes based on 80% of results nationwide.

Ghana exports gold, oil and cocoa, but experienced a slump in global commodity prices and macroeconomic instability, forcing the government to adopt a three-year aid deal with the International Monetary Fund in April 2015. This election is seen as a litmus test of stability for one of Africa’s most secure democracies. You have been elected as president because the electorate believes you have the ability to confront these challenges and lead the country with fearlessness, humility and honesty, ” he added.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the Nana Akufo-Addo on his election as President of Ghana and thanked outgoing President John Dramani Mahama for his role in defusing tensions and preserving peace during the election period. I am calling on the president to concede defeat, ” said NPP campaign chief, Peter Mac Manu.

Akufo-Addo defeated President Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent in the election which took place on Wednesday.

Mahama is a Christian from the town of Bole in the mainly-Muslim north of the country.

A crowd at Western Video polling station in the largely Muslim Mamobi neighborhood of Accra watched the count and people cheered when results showed a Mahama win.

“The stability and progress of Ghana and advancement of her democracy guided our actions in those hard days”, Akufo-Addo said recently of the campaign.

The Progressive People’s (PPP) Candidate, Papa Kwesi Nduom, had 105,682 votes ( 1%).

Presidential campaign in Ghana came to an end on Monday, as Ghanaians prepare to head to the polls on Wednesday. Ghana has held five successful democratic elections since 1992 and Mahama said he was hopeful the election would pass off peacefully.

Calls have mounted on social media for the electoral commission to speed up the vote-counting and declare the final results.

Despite the problems, accredited observer Christopher Fomunyoh, regional director for the US-based National Democratic Institute, said the vote had gone well. “We can not manipulate those results”, she said.