ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana’s former President John
Dramani Mahama is set to return to office in the West African nation’s presidential
election after the ruling party candidate, Vice President Mahamudu
Bawumia, on Sunday conceded defeat and voters vented anger at the government’s
handling of the economy.
Ahead of the official announcement, Bawumia told
reporters that he respects the decision of Ghanaians to vote for change. “I’ve
just called His Excellency John Mahama to congratulate him as president-elect
of the Republic of Ghana,” he said at his residence in the capital, Accra.
Previously president of Ghana between July 2012 and
January 2017, Mahama, 65, acknowledged the call from the ruling party candidate
in a post on the X platform, describing his victory as “emphatic.”
He had promised to “reset” the country on various
fronts during a campaign that prioritized the economy and largely appealed to
young Ghanaians who saw the vote as a way out of the country’s economic
crisis.
Celebrations broke out among the supporters of the
opposition candidate in parts of the country, including the capital city.
Wearing the opposition party’s white, green, red and black colors, women and
young people danced to music and trumpet blasts on the streets and at the
party’s national headquarters
The election for both the president and members of
parliament was held against the backdrop of the country’s worst cost-of-living
crisis in a generation and was seen as a litmus test for democracy in a
region shaken by extremist violence and coups. West Africa’s regional bloc of
ECOWAS said the election was generally peaceful, a continuing trend in Ghana.
Bawumia was running as the flagbearer of the ruling
New Patriotic Party, or NPP, which has struggled to resolve the economic crisis
under outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo. Mahama’s National Democratic Congress
also won the majority in parliament, he said.
Mahama’s win is viewed as following the latest trend
of elections around the world, favoring opposition parties against incumbents,
from the United States to European countries — such as Britain and France — as
well as South Africa.
The former president is “the only person” who can fix
the ailing economy in Ghana, one of West Africa’s economic powerhouses, said
Jude Agbemava, a policy analyst who voted for him.
Like in most other elections in countries where the
incumbent lost, the vote in Ghana was about the people making their
disaffection known against a government that has lost goodwill, said Seidu
Alidu, head of the department of political science at Ghana’s University of
Legon.
“I think it has to do with the economy, which is
largely a bread and butter issue for every Ghanaian,” said Alidu. “When the
people elect you, they require you to do certain things for them. But it was
also about the style of governance (because) even in other countries facing
economic challenges, governments were being honest with the people, telling
them what the reality is, and the steps they have taken to manage it,” he
added.
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