Mahama declared winner of Ghana presidential polls
Ghanaian incumbent John Dramani Mahama was declared winner of closely fought presidential polls.
Ghanaian incumbent John Dramani Mahama was declared winner of closely fought presidential polls Sunday, but the opposition alleged fraud in a nation that has been seen as a model of African democracy.
The electoral commission announced the result after a day of twists and turns linked to the vote on Friday and Saturday, with the stakes especially high in a country with a booming economy fuelled partly by newly discovered oil.
Results compiled by local media had early in the day pointed to a Mahama win, leading the opposition to strongly reject them, allege fraud and claim it had evidence that its candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, was the actual winner.
According to the electoral commission, Mahama won with 50.70 percent compared to Akufo-Addo s 47.74 percent. With eight candidates in the race, more than 50 percent was needed to avoid a second-round runoff.
"Ladies and gentlemen, based on the results given, I declare John Dramani Mahama president-elect," electoral commission chief Kwadwo Afari-Gyan announced to journalists.
Observers from the Commonwealth, West African bloc ECOWAS and local group CODEO have all said the vote appeared peaceful and transparent.
The opposition however issued a scathing statement even before the official results were announced alleging fraud.
"Indeed, we have enough concrete evidence to show that the 2012 presidential election was won by our candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo," the New Patriotic Party said.
"We have noticed a pattern of fraud, where substantial numbers of votes are either added to the NDC (National Democratic Congress) candidate or subtracted from the NPP presidential candidate."
It demanded an audit of collated vote figures as well as of data from the biometric verification machines used in the election.
In the wake of the opposition claims and before the results announcement, a crowd of about 300 NPP supporters had gathered near the electoral commission. Security forces fired tear gas at one point in an apparent bid to move them back.
