By Kester Kenn Klomegah
In a tightly contested presidential election, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, an experienced politician and highly successful business magnet, has been re-elected for a second term as the president of the Republic of Ghana, the Ghana’s election commission has declared.
Nana Akufo-Addo of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 7 December’s election outright with 51.6% of the votes, garnered simple majority, beating former President John Dramani Mahama of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), who received 47.4%, according to the commission’s official statement.
More than 13.4 million people voted at more than 38,600 polling stations, making the turnout about 79%, Head of Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, said of the election, which has tested the West African nation’s credentials as one of the continent’s most politically stable countries in the West Africa region and the entire Africa.
At the media briefing, Chairperson Jean Mensa said: “The election process was very transparent and participatory” before declaring the newly elected president for the next political season.
Ghanaians went to the polls on 7 December 2020 to elect a new President and members of the parliament. These were the eighth elections under the fourth republic since returning to civilian rule. The elections were held within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which required the Electoral Commission (EC) to put in place unprecedented preparatory measures.
In practice, Ghana’s civil society and most of the institutions have worked to preserve the democratic gains Ghana has accomplished in a peaceful manner. The media has also played its legitimate role in promoting peace through civic education and providing unbiased and objective-based reports
The civil society organizations play a significant role by providing an independent assessment of the electoral process through election observation. Furthermore, the presence of observers during the opening, voting, closing and tabulation of results reduces the risk of electoral malpractices and inspires confidence in the electoral process.
In a joint statement of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU) and UNOWAS on the post-election situation in the Republic of Ghana commended the leader and the people of the Republic of Ghana for the peaceful conduct of the 7 December 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections. “This is in line with Ghana’s enviable track record of organizing peaceful and successful elections since the return to multiparty democracy in 1992,” the statement said.
Ghana has an emerging digital-based mixed economy hybrid with an increasing primary manufacturing and export of digital technology goods along with assembling and exporting automobiles and ships. It engages in diverse resource rich exportation of industrial minerals, agricultural products primarily cocoa, petroleum and natural gas.
With only a population of about 30 million, Ghana is classified as a middle-income country. Ghana was ranked 7th in Africa out of 53 countries in the 2012 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. The Ibrahim Index is a comprehensive measure of African government, based on a number of different variables which reflect the success with which governments that pursue sustainable development and deliver essential political goods to its citizens.
