The outgoing Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo was re-elected in the first round, according to preliminary results announced on Wednesday night in Accra by the election commission. The head of state won against his rival John Dramani Mahama with 51.59% of the vote against 47.63%.
Nana Akufo-Addo was re-elected on Wednesday, December 9, against his historical political rival John Mahama, whom he met for the third time, after an extremely close vote. The head of state, the leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 51.59% of the vote against 47.36% for the opposition candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), announced Jean Adukwei Mensa, president of the election commission in a video broadcast live on social networks.
It took 48 hours instead of 24 to proclaim the results. The President of the Commission is also sorry for the anxiety that this wait may have aroused, reports our special correspondent in Accra, Christina okello. Although the excitement will have lasted until the end, in the end there will have been no big surprises. Partial figures released in local media gave the incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo the winner, but the opposition claims to have won a majority in parliament with 140 of 275 seats.
Also in connection with the legislative election, the governing party has stated that it will challenge the results in two of the five most controversial regions. We therefore expect a legal battle before the Supreme Court.
Nana Akufo-Addo is resumed for a second period
Nana Akufo-Addo, who is back for a second and final term, is a 76-year-old former lawyer, Francophile, a pure product of the Ghanaian aristocracy. His father had also been president before him, in the early 1970s, recalling our correspondent in Accra, Marine Jeannin. Twenty years ago, Nana Akufo-Addo had been Minister of Justice, first since foreign affairs. As leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he participated in the 2012 presidential election. He lost to John Mahama, before taking revenge four years later.
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Nana Akufo-Addo was elected on a promise to end corruption and revive growth at the half-mast. Thanks to a austerity policy, it halved the deficit in the state budget. It is also investing heavily in infrastructure and hydrocarbons, reviving the industrial sector and in a few months Ghana will be one of the ten fastest growing countries in the world.
These performances have ceased this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Growth is only 1% and the country is heavily indebted to 70% of GDP. Nana Akufo-Addo’s term has also been marred by corruption scandals, with the surprise resignation last month of anti-corruption prosecutor Martin Amidu. These are the challenges we will need to address in this new mandate.
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