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Ghana presidential election goes to runoff
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 10 - 12 - 2008


Ghana's presidential election, hailed as a
model for African democracy, will go to a runoff in late December after
the ruling party's candidate narrowly failed to reach the 50 per cent
mark, election officials announced Wednesday, according to dpa.
Kwadwo Afari Gyan, chairman of the election commission, said a
runoff vote would be held December 28, pitting Nana Akufo-Addo of the
ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) against John Atta Mills of the
National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Akufo-Addo won 49.1 per cent of Sunday's vote, to 47.9 per cent for
Mills, the election commission said.
Six other candidates drew in far lower vote tallies, but still
enough to prevent either candidate from winning a decisive outcome.
The electoral commission did not announce results of the
simultaneous parliamentary elections, but preliminary results show the
NDC has won at least 115 seats in the 230-seat parliament. The NPP thus
looks likely to lose its significant parliamentary majority.
Atta Mills and Akufo-Addoe are vying to replace John Kufuor, who
must step down in January after serving two terms.
Kufuor has revived the Ghanaian economy by bringing pro-market
reforms and political stability. Economic growth has been strong, and
the NPP campaigned on a platform of continuity.
However, despite the growth and the fact that Ghana is the second-
largest cocoa grower in the world and Africa's second-biggest producer
of gold, there is still widespread poverty among ordinary Ghanians.
The NDC said this showed that new leadership was required.
Both main parties also promised good governance when it comes to
revenue from newly discovered oil, due to come onstream in late 2010.
Ghana's National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) expects 120,000
barrels per day initially, with that figure rising to 250,000 barrels a
day within two years.
Some were worried that Sunday's simultaneous presidential and
parliamentary elections could spark the kind of violence witnessed in
Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria earlier this year.
However, despite the NDC alleging that the NPP was planning to rig
the elections, the vote remained peaceful.
The European Union's election monitoring team Tuesday said that
Ghana's elections were open, transparent and competitive.
"Tthe 2008 elections ... helped to strengthen the democratic
institutions of Ghana, and Ghana's democratic credentials in the
region, Africa and the world at large," EU Chief Observer Nickolay
Mladenov said in a statement.
"The competitive campaign and the overall peaceful environment are a
tribute to Ghanaian democracy," he added.


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