Skip to main content

Nana Akufo-Addo is Ghana’s president-elect

Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana’s national election, becoming president elect at the third attempt and cementing the country’s reputation as a standard bearer of democracy in a region that has been blighted by civil wars and coups.

Akufo-Addo defeated President John Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent, electoral commissioner Charlotte Osei said late on Friday, sparking scenes of celebration in the capital Accra.

“I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down. I will do all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations,” Akufo-Addo told a jubilant crowd in front of his residence.

Supporters of his New Patriotic Party (NPP) broke into cheers and dancing and car horns blared and fireworks erupted across the city, witnesses said, following an anxious day in which his victory had been broadly accepted but there were no official results.

Akufo-Addo, 72, served as foreign minister and attorney general in the previous NPP government that ruled between 2001 and 2009 and twice previously lost close battles for the presidency.

“It is my duty and my privilege to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as the president elect of Ghana,” Osei told a news conference in the capital.

The outcome maintains Ghana’s record of fiercely-contested but peaceful elections, with a government being voted out at the ballot box for the third time since 2000.

The opposition challenged the 2012 election results, which led to an eight-month battle in the Supreme Court. It lost, but many observers said the process strengthened the country’s democracy and confirmed judicial independence.

The scale of the NPP’s victory on Friday made another legal challenge unlikely. The party also picked up enough seats to win a parliamentary majority, independent estimates showed.

The NPP will inherit an economy from Mahama’s National Democratic Congress that for years was rated one of Africa’s most dynamic but has slowed sharply since 2014, in part because of prices for the country’s main exports – gold, cocoa and oil – have fallen.

That made the government vulnerable to opposition accusations it had mismanaged the nation’s finances and squandered wealth from oil, which started to flow in 2010 from an offshore field operated by British company Tullow.

In a bid to kickstart growth, the NPP says it will create jobs, build a dam in every village and a factory in every district and give each constituency the equivalent of $1 million per year to pursue development projects.

At the same time, it also aims to maintain a tight fiscal stance in a country that is mid-way through an International Monetary Fund program aimed at restoring balance to an economy facing elevated inflation and other problems.

A few minutes before Osei’s declaration, Mahama called Akufo-Addo to concede defeat.

Reuters

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Houthis Claim Attack on Central Israel in Response to Gaza ‘Massacres’

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has taken a concerning regional turn as the Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for an attack on central Israel. The group announced this as part of their escalating response to what they describe as "massacres" in Gaza amid the Israeli military’s operations in the strip. Details of the Attack The Houthis, a Shiite militant group with ties to Iran, declared that they launched missile and drone strikes targeting Israel. While the exact impact of these attacks remains unclear, reports suggest that Israel’s defense systems intercepted several threats over its airspace. This marks a significant escalation as the Houthis widen their involvement in the conflict beyond their typical operations within Yemen and neighboring Saudi Arabia. The Houthis’ Justification In their statement, the Houthis framed the attack as retaliation for Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which they characterized as indiscriminate bombings resultin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fire: UniJos Senate convenes emergency meeting on Monday

Fire at the University of Jos Library University of Jos is to convene an emergency senate meeting on Monday to review the level of damage done to the institution by the Saturday night inferno. The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sebastian Maimako, disclosed this on Sunday after inspecting areas affected by the incident. The fire, which lasted for more than six hours, destroyed the Library Complex that equally houses the faculties of management and social sciences. The fire also destroyed examination scripts, books and very crucial materials. Consequently, the vice-chancellor said “the Senate will meet tomorrow (Monday) to take a decision about the unmarked examination scripts that were burnt.” On the cause of the inferno, Maimako said investigation had commenced, adding that “nothing has been confirmed yet. We are still investigating.” The vice chancellor said the school was already working with federal authorities toward establishing a main fire station since the mini fire station in t...
Post a Comment
Read more

NDLEA arrests 252 suspects, seizes 3,073 kg Indian hemp

NDLEA operatives The NDLEA in Niger on Monday said that it had arrested 252 suspects and seized 3,073.9 kilogramme of Indian hemp(cannabis sativa) in the state. The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr Joseph Iweajunwa, who disclosed this in Minna, said that the operations were carried out between January and September. “Our operations in Niger State from January to September 2016 led to the arrest of 252 suspects and seizure of 3,073.997 kilogramme of cannabis sativa,’’ he said. Iweajunwa said that within the period, the agency also seized 1, 530 litres of liquid drugs, especially cough syrup with codeine. He said the NDLEA also counselled and rehabilitated 90 drug addicts in the state within the period under review. The agency, he added, secured convictions of only nine of the suspects because the judge at the Federal High Court, Minna, went on leave. “ Now that the judge has resumed more suspects will be tried,’’ he said. He advised motorists, especially commercial vehicle dri...
Post a Comment
Read more