Uncertainty, Ghana on the Balance as polls open to elect President, Parliamentarians

 

Uncertainty as polls open in Ghana to elect President, Parliamentarians

Ghana is upbeat about the election of president and parliamentarians which opened today in the West African country.

Voters queued overnight in the northern city of Tamale, a BBC reports said, in the election an uncertain polls in which 17 million are eligible to vote.

Polling stations opened on Monday morning as voters thronged to cast votes for president and 275 members of parliament.

President Nana Akufo Addo is seeking re-election for a second term and faces a challenge from former President John Mahama.

This will be the first time since democracy was re-established in 1992 – after years of military rule – that an election will be held without the physical influence of the late former president Jerry Rawlings.

The charismatic and popular leader, who oversaw the return of multiparty politics, died at the age of 73 at a hospital in the capital, Accra, on 12 November following a short illness. However, there is a widespread belief that sympathy votes in honour of Rawlings may sway the election to left.

This is Ghana’s eighth election since the return of multiparty democracy in 1992.

Polls opened at 07:00 local time and are expected to close at 17:00. More than 17 million Ghanaians are eligible to vote in the elections

Covid-19 protocols are expected to be strictly enforced. Those not wearing face masks will not be allowed to vote. People have also been advised to return home after casting their ballots

Ghana has had five presidents since 1992 and three hand-overs of power. It is considered as one of the most democratic countries in West Africa.

Eleven candidates are in the race to unseat President Nana Akufo-Addo. His main challenger is his predecessor and 2016 opponent, John Dramani Mahama.

Youth unemployment, security concerns and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy are among the top issues Ghanaians will consider when voting.

Here are six things to know about this election.

The world has gone through so much uncertainty and surprises this year but Ghana’s presidential race is remarkably familiar.

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Mr Akufo-Addo, 76, and his longtime rival, Mr Mahama, 62, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will slug it out for the presidency for a record third time. The two men first ran against each other in 2012.

In the first contest, Mr Mahama unexpectedly became his party’s candidate after then President John Evans Atta Mills died just five months before the presidential poll.

Mr Mahama, 62, went on to defeat Mr Akufo-Addo, 76, who had been tipped to win.

The results were challenged in court on grounds of electoral fraud but after eight months Ghana’s Supreme Court upheld Mr Mahama’s narrow victory. Mr Akufo-Addo, however, got his revenge in 2016.

Mr Mahama told BBC Pidgin in a recent interview that an ailing economy, a power crisis that he resolved a little too late, and “fake news from opposition’s social media troll factory” led to his defeat four years ago.

But whatever happens, there will not be a fourth face-off between the two men – whoever wins will be ruled out of future elections after serving two terms.