BREAKING: Akufo-Addo wins second term as Ghana’s president

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has won a second term after a tightly contested presidential election, the Electoral Commission of Ghana announced on Wednesday, beating his long-time opponent John Mahama.

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Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party received 6,730,413 or 51.59 per cent of total votes while Mahama of the National Democratic Congress received 6,214,889 or 47.36 per cent of total votes, the commission’s chairperson Jean Adukwei Mensa said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

“On the basis of the foregoing election results and by the powers vested in me as the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the interim officer of the election, it is my duty and honour to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as president-elect of the Republic of Ghana,” Mensa said at the press briefing monitored by The PUNCH.

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Monday’s presidential and parliamentary vote has been viewed by observers as generally free and fair.

But Mahama on Tuesday accused Akufo-Addo of showing “credentials that are very undemocratic” and harnessing the military to sway the outcome.

“You cannot use the military to try and overturn some of the results in constituencies that we have won. We will resist any attempts to subvert the sovereign will of the Ghanaian people,” the 62-year-old former president said.

He made the accusations after rumours circulated on social media that he had conceded defeat but he refuted the claim, saying he has not congratulated anyone.

Mahama and Akufo-Addo, 76, are old rivals who have faced off at the ballot box twice before.

Mahama was president for four years until 2016, before being succeeded by Akufo-Addo. Both of those elections were determined by small margins.

Despite the sharp words, Ghana has a history of electoral stability and grievances are typically pursued through the courts.

Akufo-Addo and Mahama had on Friday signed a symbolic peace pact, which the 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS urged “all political parties and their leadership to respect.”