GHANAIANS are anxiously waiting to know the president who will lead them for the next four years after voting in the country’s presidential and parliamentary polls on Saturday, December 7.
Over 18 million (18.7m) registered voters out of the country’s 33.4 million population were eligible to vote.
The election took place in 40,976 polling units and 328 special voting centres. It is also expected to decide who occupies the 276 parliamentary seats across the country’s 16 regions.
The election did not start in several polling stations at 7:00am, as directed by the electoral commission. However, the exercise recorded impressive voter turnout in the early hours.
Several polling stations visited by The ICIR had less than ten voters from 3:00 pm.
While the election was generally peaceful, it recorded some skirmishes, including reported killing, voter inducement and arrest of party members with weapons and cash.
Some of the polling stations visited by The ICIR include St. John’s Workers 2 polling station, at Pig Farm, under Ayawaso Central Municipal, Accra; Ebony Restaurant Pig Farm-1 polling station, at the Ayawaso Central Municipal, Accra; Services polling station 1, Ayawaso East, Kanda 1, Accra; and Lante DZAN WE Storey Building 1 polling station at Dadekotopon constituency, Accra.
Others are Apostolic Revelation Society polling station at Pig Farm, Ayawaso Central Municipal, Accra; and Christians Books Center polling station 1, East Legon, Ghana.
The ICIR reported on Friday that the election could be another battle between former president John Dramani Mahama and incumbent President Nana Akufo-Ado.
Both leaders had faced each other twice at the presidential elections with Mahama losing in both contests.
He lost as an incumbent seeking re-election in 2016 and in 2020 when he threw his hat in the ring again.
This time, he is facing the incumbent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the first-ever Muslim to seek Ghana’s presidency on a major political party’s platform.
Should Bawumia win, he will become the Africa’s largest gold producer’s first Muslim president.
Mahama and Bawumia are from Ghana’s northern region.
Bawumia flies the flag of the ruling party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), while Mahama, who seeks a second and final term of four years, is the candidate of the major opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Ten candidates, including a woman, vied for the presidency. Eight of the candidates are sponsored by political parties while four are running independently.
Among the independent candidates is an entrepreneur, Nana Bediako, whom many see as capable of causing a major upset. He is very influential among the youth, aged 18 – 35 years, who form a large population (10.3 million) of the country’s registered voters.
What happens if there is no winner in the election?
Ghana’s constitution requires that a candidate wins more than 50% of the votes cast in a presidential election to be declared winner. If no winner emerges at the first ballot, a second election would be conducted withing 21 days.
Article 63(3) of Ghana’s Constitution says: “A person shall not be elected as President of Ghana unless, at the presidential election, the number of votes cast in his favour is more than fifty per cent of the total number of valid votes cast at the election.
“Where at a presidential election there are more than two candidates and no candidate obtains the number or percentage of votes specified in clause (3) of this article, a second election shall be held within twenty-one days after the previous election.
“(5) The candidates for a presidential election held under clause (4) of this article shall be the two candidates who obtained the two highest numbers of votes at the previous election.”
Some lapses that mar Saturday’s poll
Though Ghana is renowned for conducting peaceful elections and has sustained a democratic transition of power since 1992 when it began its Fourth Republic, this year’s exercise was marred by some challenges.
In addition to the late commencement of the exercise in several polling stations visited by The ICIR, some of the incidents that undermined the election include the arrest of an NPP agent who allegedly shared money at a polling station at Krowor.
One person was reportedly shot dead near the University for Development Studies (UDS) Campus in Nyankpala following gunshots between NDC and NPP supporters. Police also reportedly caught a party supporter with a gun.
The incident happened at the St. Theresa’s School polling Station in the Okaikwei South constituency. Police identified the man as Michael Allotey.
Marked differences between Nigeria, Ghana poll
Unlike in Nigeria and other African countries, there is no restriction to vehicular movements during elections in Ghana. The country’s outlook on an election day could best be compared to when a nation observes a public holiday. Businesses are open and motorists move freely on the roads.
There are no military or police convoys as seen in Nigeria and other African nations during elections. The ICIR reporter did not see any soldier on the streets during the poll.
Only police and other officers of paramilitary agencies manned polling stations and other strategic locations in the country.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org