Ghana election: Opposition leader Akufo-Addo declared winner

Nana Akufo-Addo also ran for president in 2008 and 2012

Ghana’s opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has won Wednesday’s tightly contested presidential election.

President John Mahama called Mr Akufo-Addo to admit defeat, a spokesman for his party said, as the Electoral Commission announced the result.

Mr Akufo-Addo has promised free high-school education and more factories but critics have questioned the viability of his ambitions.

Celebrations have broken out in the capital, Accra.

Ghana has been a multi-party democracy since the end of military rule in 1992 and this result is seen as reinforcing its reputation for the peaceful transfer of power between administrations.

Mr Akufo-Addo, from the New Patriotic Party, won the election on his third attempt to reach the presidency, after a campaign dominated by the country’s faltering economy.

“I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down,” he told a jubilant crowd in front of his residence.

“I will do all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations.”

Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) declared Mr Akufo-Addo the winner, with 53.85% of the votes, while Mr Mahama took 44.40%. Turnout was at 68.62%.

Nana Akufo-Addo

Image copyright AFP

• 72 years-old
• Human rights lawyer
• Campaigned for a return to multi-party democracy under military rule
• A former justice and foreign minister in the NPP government from 2001 to 2007, he is running for president for a third time
• Main promise: Build a factory in each of Ghana’s more than 200 districts

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In the previous election in 2012, Mr Mahama, from the National Democratic Congress, defeated Mr Akufo-Addo by less than 300,000 votes.

It is the second time in the space of a week that a West African president has conceded to an opposition candidate, following the shock defeat of President Yahya Jammeh in Gambia’s elections.

*BBC