JUST before 9pm on Friday night celebrations erupted in Accra. Ghana’s electoral commission had declared the opposition leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, the winner of the presidential election and his supporters were in the mood to party, dancing in the streets, honking car horns and setting off fireworks late into the night. It was a resounding victory for Mr Akufo-Addo (pictured), who took 53.85% of the vote, on his third run for the presidency, to incumbent John Mahama’s 44.4%.
It was also another win for Ghana’s vibrant democracy. The West African country, home to 27.4m people, has now held seven peaceful presidential elections since the return of multiparty democracy in 1992. This was the third turnover of power from ruling party to opposition. It was also notable for being the first time an incumbent president had been defeated in Ghana.
Voters punished Mr Mahama and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Ghana’s economic woes. Growth shot up to 14% in 2011 after the country started pumping oil, but has since slumped to less than 4%. Although falling oil prices were not the NDC’s fault, it took the blame for spending the expected windfall before it had arrived...Continue reading
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