Ghana’s ex-president and main opposition leader John Dramani Mahama has been declared winner of Saturday’s presidential election according to provisional results by the country’s electoral commission on Monday.
Mahama, candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), won with 56.6% of the vote against 41.6% for vice-president and ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Mahamudu Bawumia, in what is regarded as the biggest margin of victory in the country for 24 years.
According to Reuters, the electoral commission said it had counted votes from 267 out of the West African country’s 276 constituencies, with voter turnout put at 60.9%.
The 66-year-old Mahama, is making a comeback after serving as Ghana’s president from 2012 to 2016. He also served as Ghana’s Vice President from 2009 to 2012, a member of parliament from 1997 to 2009, and held deputy and ministerial roles between 1998 and 2001.
Bawumia conceded defeat on Sunday in both presidential and legislative elections, a move that eased tensions.
Mahama said he felt “humbled” that he and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) had “chalked one of the best results in the electoral history of Ghana”, while promising a “a new beginning, a new direction” for the country, the BBC reports.
Mahama, who noted that Ghana had made history by choosing its first female Vice-President, Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, will succeed incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu was among the first heads of state to congratulate Mahama for winning the presidential elections.
“In a telephone call to Mahama, President Tinubu hoped that Mahama’s ascension to power for the second time would further bring stability to the Economic Community of West African States, of which President Tinubu is the chairman.”
“He applauded Ghanaians for demonstrating again to the world that democracy is the preferred path to achieving political stability, economic development, social justice, and transparent governance in Africa,” a statement signed on Sunday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga noted.
