The Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan has declared Ghana’s incumbent president John Dramani Mahama as the winner of the 2012 Ghanan presidential elections.
Accra / NationalTurk – There were wild jubilations in the capital after the declaration of the results by the chairman of the Electoral Commission in the capital Accra.
Many political analysts in the country lauded his victory as he only used 3 months in campaigning to become the Ghanan President.
The various Observer Missions including the African Union and the ECOWAS delegation congratulated Ghanaians for holding peaceful elections which consolidate the country gains as the beacon of democracy in Africa.
President Mahama who stood on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress NDC polled 5,574,761 representing 50.70% to win the polls held on Friday and Saturday.
The Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party NPP Akufo-Addo who is the leader of the opposition party had 5,248,898 of the valid votes cast, representing 47.74%.
Out of a total of 14,158,890 registered voters, 11,246,982 voters exercised their franchise. 10,995,262 of this number were deemed valid. The total rejected votes stood at 251,720. The turnout in the 275 constituencies is 79.43%
Claims of opposition
The opposition New Patriotic Party NPP says it will contest the result accusing the governing National Democratic Congress NDC party of conspiring with the Electoral commission’s staff to win the polls.
“The ruling NDC conspired with certain EC staff in constituencies across the country to falsify the election results and thereby abuse the mandate of the people of Ghana,” party chairman Jake Obestebi Lamptey told reporters.
“This situation if allowed to go unchallenged and uncorrected, would seriously damage the essence of the electoral process and the substance of democracy in Ghana,” he continued.
“To accept this result is to discredit democracy in Ghana and, in the process, distort the process of democratization in Africa. Therefore, the New Patriotic Party cannot accept the results of the presidential election as declared by the election commission this evening”, Mr. Lamptey concluded.
It is unclear what the opposition will do next as they still have a chance of contesting the results at the Supreme Court.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
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