President Akufo-Addo being assisted by Vice-President Dr. Bawumia, 2nd Lady Samira and 1st Lady Rebecca, to deliver his victory speech
Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was yesterday declared winner of the December 7, 2020 Presidential Election by the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Jean Mensa.
He has therefore been given the nod to continue as the President of Ghana for another four-year term after defeating former President John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the second time.
President Akufo-Addo polled 6,730,413 representing 51.595% of the total valid votes cast to defeat Mr. Mahama who managed 6,214,889 representing 47.366%.
2016 Episode
Nana Akufo-Addo, in 2016, against all odds defeated then incumbent President Mahama by some 1.5 million or so votes.
He polled some 5,755,758 representing 53.7% over Mr. Mahama’s 4,771,188 representing some 44.4%, to clinch one touch victory in 2016.
2020 Results
In yesterday’s declaration, the EC Chairperson made it clear that “the election results we have declared exclude that of Techiman South Constituency, which has a total vote population of 128,018.”
“The said election results are not ready because they are being contested as some collations have not been completed. It is important to know however that the difference between the total number of votes between the first and second candidates (Mr. Mahama) is 515,524 votes.
Ultimate Permutations
She said, “As a result, if we are to add the 128,018 unseen results to the result of the second candidate it will not change the outcome of the election, hence our declaration of the 2020 presidential results without that of Techiman South,” adding “indeed if we were to collate all the results of the Techiman South Constituency and add them to the votes of the second candidate, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, he would obtain 47.873 per cent of the total number of votes cast and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would obtain 50.8 per cent of the total votes cast.”
She said that “it is on that basis that we say the outcome of the election will not change, hence our declaration of the 2020 presidential results without that of Techiman South.”
“On the basis of the forgoing election results and the power vested in me as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the Returning Officer of the presidential election, it is my duty and honour to declare Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as President-Elect of the Republic of Ghana.”
Other Candidates
Christian Kwabena Andrews, aka Osofo Kyiri Abosom of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), polled 105,565 representing 0.805%; Ivor Kobina Greenstreet of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) polled 12,215, representing 0.093%; and the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) led by Akua Donkor getting 5,575, representing 0.042%.
Henry Herbert Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) polled 3,574, representing 0.027%; Hassan Ayariga of the Action People’s Congress (APC) polled 7,140, representing 0.054%; Perceval Kofi Akpaloo of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) polled 7,690, representing 0.059%; and David Apesera of the People’s National Convention (PNC) polled 10,887, representing 0.083%.
Brigitte Dzogbenuku of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) polled 6,848, representing 0.052%; former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP) polled 6,612, representing 0.050%; and the independent candidate, Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker, polled 9,703, representing 0.074%.
24 Hours
The EC boss said “as a commission, we had planned to deliver the results 24 hours after the elections, but as the saying goes – ‘man proposes but God disposes,’” adding, “We encountered a few challenges leading to a few delays, coupled with the usual request for recounting of votes in some polling stations.”
“We regret the anxiety caused and we ask that you bear with us. We hope that in subsequent elections, we will be able to live up to our timeline,” she said.
Historic Election
“I indicated that this is a historic election because for the first time in the history of our country, the Election Day went by without major incidents and occurrences. It is no wonder that the BBC described this year’s elections as ‘boring’, a testament of an incident-free process that we witnessed on Monday.
“As a commission, we thank the Almighty God for His faithfulness and how far He has brought us. We recognize without a shadow of doubt that we could not have come this far without Him.
“And as the good book states – ‘A horse is prepared for battle, but victory comes from God.’ We remain eternally grateful and thankful to God for the victories He has brought on our behalf,” she said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu