Ghanaian presidential polls hotly contested
ACCRA: Long queues formed at voting stations on Wednesday amid voting for a president and parliament in Ghana, with voters focused on a three-year economic downturn that led to heavy job losses and price hikes.
President John Dramani Mahama is running for a second four-year term in the West African nation rich in gold, cocoa, diamonds, aluminium, bauxite and recently discovered oil.
Mahama is competing with six other candidates for the presidency. His fiercest rival is Nana Akufo-Addo, the leader of the largest opposition group, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Security was beefed up across the country, with a heavy police and military presence around polling stations and major roads. But the atmosphere remained calm and peaceful on election day, buffered by a pledge all seven candidates made last week to follow electoral rules and oppose violence.
Mahama remains popular in the nation of 26 million people, the first subSaharan country to gain independence in colonial Africa, in 1957.
The 58-year-old incumbent made major progress in improving Ghana’s infrastructure by building schools, health facilities and roads. But many voters hold Mahama and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) responsible for a debilitating three-year energy crisis that led to a 10 per cent drop in economic growth between 2011 and 2015, as well as to a sharp rise in electricity, water and petrol prices.
Akufo-Addo promises to use Ghana’s new-found oil to create jobs and push industrialisation in all economic sectors, including agriculture. It is the third election in which the 72-year-old is vying for the presidency.
“I’m voting for Mahama because he has built a lot of schools, roads and hospitals. He is the one I trust to move this country forward,” Godwin Atsu, a 23-year-old carpenter, said.
Godwin Andor, a taxi driver in Accra, was patiently waiting to cast his ballot for Akufo-Addo at the Auntie Ku Winners School polling station in Accra, unperturbed by the scorching sun.