Ghana Votes To Elect President and Members of Parliament in Tight Elections
Voters cast their ballots during the general election at Wisconsin University in Accra, Ghana, 07 December 2024. Photo: EFE/EPA/CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
December 7, 2024 Hour: 1:01 pm
Ghana voted this Saturday in a close presidential and parliamentary elections marked by the country’s severe economic crisis, in which Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia and former President John Dramani Mahama are leaving as favorites to become the new head of state.
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About 18.7 million voters, out of a total population of around 35 million, were called to elect the president and 276 members of the unicameral parliament for four-year term, as Nana Akufo-Addo, does not compete after completing two terms allowed by the constitution.
A total of 40,976 polling stations, which opened at 07:00 local time (equal to GMT) and closed at 17:00 local time, have been enabled for the ninth general election since the country became a multi-party democracy in the 1990s.
Bawumia and Mahama are both from the historically disadvantaged northern part of the country and have rallied hard to appeal to their support bases, while the NPP favours a private sector growth approach, the NDC wants to implement more government intervention.
If no presidential candidate obtains more than half of the votes, a second round will be held with the two most voted, and to achieve Bawumia victory, the NPP would win an unprecedented third consecutive term in government and he would make history as Ghana’s first Muslim president.
Ghana, a major producer of gold and cocoa, is facing its worst economic crisis in years, with a very high public debt that has forced this West African country to apply for a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Ghana Vote, one of the most stable democracies on the African continent, has election observation missions from international organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: Al Jazeera / EFE
