Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana\u2019s national election, becoming president elect at
\nthe third attempt and cementing the country\u2019s reputation as a standard
\nbearer of democracy in a region that has been blighted by civil wars and
\ncoups.<\/p>\n
Akufo-Addo defeated President John Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent,
\nelectoral commissioner Charlotte Osei said late on Friday, sparking scenes
\nof celebration in the capital Accra.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down. I will
\ndo all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations,\u201d Akufo-Addo
\ntold a jubilant crowd in front of his residence.<\/p>\n
Supporters of his New Patriotic Party (NPP) broke into cheers and dancing
\nand car horns blared and fireworks erupted across the city, witnesses
\nsaid, following an anxious day in which his victory had been broadly
\naccepted but there were no official results.<\/p>\n
Akufo-Addo, 72, served as foreign minister and attorney general in the
\nprevious NPP government that ruled between 2001 and 2009 and twice
\npreviously lost close battles for the presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my duty and my privilege to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as the
\npresident elect of Ghana,\u201d Osei told a news conference in the capital.
\nThe outcome maintains Ghana\u2019s record of fiercely-contested but peaceful
\nelections, with a government being voted out at the ballot box for the
\nthird time since 2000.<\/p>\n
The opposition challenged the 2012 election results, which led to an
\neight-month battle in the Supreme Court. It lost, but many observers said
\nthe process strengthened the country\u2019s democracy and confirmed judicial
\nindependence.<\/p>\n
The scale of the NPP\u2019s victory on Friday made another legal challenge
\nunlikely. The party also picked up enough seats to win a parliamentary
\nmajority, independent estimates showed.<\/p>\n
The NPP will inherit an economy from Mahama\u2019s National Democratic Congress
\nthat for years was rated one of Africa\u2019s most dynamic but has slowed
\nsharply since 2014, in part because of prices for the country\u2019s main
\nexports \u2013 gold, cocoa and oil \u2013 have fallen.<\/p>\n
That made the government vulnerable to opposition accusations it had
\nmismanaged the nation\u2019s finances and squandered wealth from oil, which
\nstarted to flow in 2010 from an offshore field operated by British company
\nTullow.<\/p>\n
In a bid to kickstart growth, the NPP says it will create jobs, build a
\ndam in every village and a factory in every district and give each
\nconstituency the equivalent of $1 million per year to pursue development
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
At the same time, it also aims to maintain a tight fiscal stance in a
\ncountry that is mid-way through an International Monetary Fund program
\naimed at restoring balance to an economy facing elevated inflation and
\nother problems.<\/p>\n
A few minutes before Osei\u2019s declaration, Mahama called Akufo-Addo to
\nconcede defeat.<\/p>\n
Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana\u2019s national election, becoming president elect at the third attempt and cementing the country\u2019s reputation as a standard bearer of democracy in a region that has been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n