Ghana: Incumbent President John Dramini Mahama Declared Winner of the Presidential Elections

After two days of voting in a country that has been a flagship of the model democracy in Africa, incumbent president John Dramini Mahama has been declared winner of the presidential elections in Ghana by the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.

Pulling in a total of 5.57 million (50.70 percent) of the 10,995,262 valid votes cast, president Mahama prevailed over his primary challenger, the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo, who also secured a good number of the votes with 5.24 million or 47.74 percent. There were 14,158,890 registered voters, with a sweeping 11,246,982 of them actually casting a vote. However, 251,720 of the total votes cast were deemed invalid and rejected. 

There were eight total contenders for the presidency from different parties, all representing different ideas and agendas for the country.

For the first time ever, the biometric system was operated in Ghana, allowing voters to cast their votes using their fingerprint. Although this caused some chaos and delay in the delivery of the results, the country has made another important stride.

Congratulations to president Mahama and Ghana for another peaceful and historic election.