More than 17 million voters are expected to vote on Monday, December 7. They must elect their 275 deputies and their president. Twelve candidates are running for the highest office, including the outgoing head of state, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is seeking a second term.
With our special correspondent and our correspondent in Accra, Christina Okello and Marine Jeannin
Usually, the line starts very early in front of Ghanaian polling stations to get a chance to vote in the ballot box before going to work. But not this year. President Nana Akufo-Addo declared a public holiday on Monday: voters therefore have all day to go to the polls.
In the popular James Town district, the polls opened as planned and voters were already there. In the queue, a man expresses his pride in being Ghanaian. He says he voted on Monday for the future of Ghana, a country who have not experienced political instability for over 20 years, unlike other African countries. The atmosphere is more of a party atmosphere: people are happy to be there, happy to be in a way the champion of democracy on the African continent, and they are actually determined to make sure that it takes place in peace.
In Nima, another popular and densely populated district in the capital, you come across polling stations almost every 50 meters. Despite the rather long queues, everything happens in peace. Voters wear their masks, respecting their turn in the queue. Election officials ensure that no one causes problems and no violence has been reported so far.
The people of Nima are very proud that the elections in Ghana are still being conducted peacefully and claim that they are a democratic model for West Africa. The neighborhood is pro-opposition, but we see flags from the presidential party or people wearing Nana Akufo-Addo T-shirts and this creates no tension.
Expected results in 24 hours
Last Friday, the outgoing president and his rival John Mahama even signed a peace pact to urge its supporters to avoid violence. On Thursday night, Nana Akufo-Addo spoke to the nation one last time to prevent any hint of violence. Nearly 40,000 local and international observers were deployed across the country to ensure the smooth running of the vote. Security forces are deployed and police cars drive from office to office.
The big change this year is the now decentralized profit transfer system. In other words, the 275 elected districts will send the results to 16 newly created regions, which will then transfer the results to the Accra Electoral Commission. The goal is to save time and let the election commission notify the representative of the results within 24 hours.
Another change is that the results will no longer be transmitted electronically, everything is calculated manually. In 2016, the machines had not worked.
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