Ghanaians face a presidential run-off as poll results showed that the ruling party's candidate came out on top in the first round; but just failed to knock his main challenger out of the contest.
According to AFP, Nana Akufo-Addo from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 49.13 percent of the vote, ahead of John Atta-Mills of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) with 47.92 percent. The third placed Candidate was way behind on 1.3 per cent of the vote. The winning candidate had to achieve 50 percent of the vote plus one vote in order to win the election. The next poll between the two front-runners, takes place on December 28th. According to the Electoral Commission Chief Kwado Afari Gyan; turnout in last weeks Election was a healthy 69.52 percent. A turnout of this magnitude indicates that democracy is alive and Well in Ghana. Although there was one small hiccup in that the announce results were based on 229 out of the country's 230 constituencies as Ballot Boxes in one constituency had been tampered with. 229 out of 230, 1 tampered, 1.3 per cent and we realise that numbers do matter after all. Worse still, time has to be set aside to prepare for the second round on the 28th. Given that time is relative, I suspect that this Christmas will go slow for the two contenders, but that time will move too fast for the Party faithful who try and rustle up more support for their chosen candidate. But what really matters is that neither candidate is vying for the top job at the end of the barrel of a gun. It is democracy, and a close hard fought campaign will only go to strengthen the value and credibility of the successful candidate. It would be lovely to meet the Winner and to hope that Ghana can continue to enjoy the peace that it has had for so long.
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