Ghana - Opposition Parties Cry Foul Ahead Of Election Results
Ghana's main opposition party said on Sunday the country's presidential and parliamentary election had been rigged by electoral work...
http://www.africaeagle.com/2012/12/ghana-opposition-parties-cry-foul-ahead.html
Ghana's main opposition party said on Sunday the country's presidential and parliamentary election had been rigged by electoral workers, raising concerns of unrest in a nation seen as a bulwark of African democracy.
Security forces used teargas to disperse hundreds of supporters of the New Patriotic Party protesting in front of the electoral commission building in the capital Accra, where officials were expected to announce results from the poll.
Local media outlets, using tallies from individual polling stations around the country, have projected that incumbent leader John Dramani Mahama narrowly beat NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the election's first round.
"These results cannot be forced down the throat of the people of Ghana," NPP chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey told reporters at a news conference in Accra, urging electoral officials to delay announcing a winner.
The poll is a test of whether Ghana can maintain more than 30 years of stability and progress in a region better known for coups, civil wars and corruption.
A cliff-hanger election in 2008, in which Akufo-Addo lost by less than 1 percent, pushed the country to the brink of chaos, with disputes over results driving hundreds of people into the streets with clubs and machetes.
NPP's Obetsebi-Lamptey said he had evidence of electoral workers conspiring to rig tallies and added the party had sent a formal letter of complaint to the electoral commission asking for an audit before full results are released.
Electoral authorities later said commissioner Kwadwo Afari-Gyan was holding meetings with representatives of the parties and would later make an announcement, raising expectations he would release results from the poll.
Mahama served as prime minister for former leader John Atta Mills and took over the presidency in July after Mills' death from illness. He has vowed to use rising oil revenues to jumpstart development, create jobs, and combat poverty.
"We have a fair idea what the outcome of the elections will be," Mahama said at his house in a leafy suburb of Accra on Sunday. "But as a law-abiding political party, we shall wait for the electoral commission to make an official declaration."
Akufo-Addo, a British-trained lawyer, has criticized the ruling party for failing to root out government graft and has said he would provide free primary and secondary school education to Ghanaians.
But in a country where campaign messages rarely influence voting choices, many believe most of Ghana's 14 million voters cast their ballots based on ethnic, social or regional ties.
A run-off is possible December 28 if no candidate wins an outright majority. Ghanaians are also electing a parliament, in which Mahama's party has enjoyed a slim majority.
An oil-driven economic boom has brought more wealth to the country, but also fears that it could suffer the graft and turmoil that often plagues energy-rich developing nations.
Local media outlets, using tallies from individual polling stations around the country, have projected that incumbent leader John Dramani Mahama narrowly beat NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the election's first round.
"These results cannot be forced down the throat of the people of Ghana," NPP chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey told reporters at a news conference in Accra, urging electoral officials to delay announcing a winner.
The poll is a test of whether Ghana can maintain more than 30 years of stability and progress in a region better known for coups, civil wars and corruption.
A cliff-hanger election in 2008, in which Akufo-Addo lost by less than 1 percent, pushed the country to the brink of chaos, with disputes over results driving hundreds of people into the streets with clubs and machetes.
NPP's Obetsebi-Lamptey said he had evidence of electoral workers conspiring to rig tallies and added the party had sent a formal letter of complaint to the electoral commission asking for an audit before full results are released.
Electoral authorities later said commissioner Kwadwo Afari-Gyan was holding meetings with representatives of the parties and would later make an announcement, raising expectations he would release results from the poll.
Mahama served as prime minister for former leader John Atta Mills and took over the presidency in July after Mills' death from illness. He has vowed to use rising oil revenues to jumpstart development, create jobs, and combat poverty.
"We have a fair idea what the outcome of the elections will be," Mahama said at his house in a leafy suburb of Accra on Sunday. "But as a law-abiding political party, we shall wait for the electoral commission to make an official declaration."
Akufo-Addo, a British-trained lawyer, has criticized the ruling party for failing to root out government graft and has said he would provide free primary and secondary school education to Ghanaians.
But in a country where campaign messages rarely influence voting choices, many believe most of Ghana's 14 million voters cast their ballots based on ethnic, social or regional ties.
A run-off is possible December 28 if no candidate wins an outright majority. Ghanaians are also electing a parliament, in which Mahama's party has enjoyed a slim majority.
An oil-driven economic boom has brought more wealth to the country, but also fears that it could suffer the graft and turmoil that often plagues energy-rich developing nations.
