Challenger Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana’s national election, tapping into an electorate fed up with a sputtering economy and ready for change. The erudite 72-year-old human rights lawyer cruised to victory winning 53.8 percent of the votes, according to the country’s election agency.
- President and candidate of Ghana’s ruling National Democratic Congress party John Mahama leaves after voting in the Bole district, northern region, on December 7, 2016
- Incumbent John Mahama conceded defeat after a hotly contested race that was seen as a test of the country’s democracy in a region plagued by dictators and coups.
- Akufo-Addo will serve a four-year term in the former British colony, a once booming country that has seen its economy slow, currency deteriorate and inflation soar.
- Mahama, who came to power in 2012 after beating Akufo-Addo, had urged voters to “stay the course”, promising to deliver more infrastructure projects.
Do you know?
- Ghana officially the Republic of Ghana, is a sovereign unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean,
- The word Ghana means “Warrior King” in the Soninke language.
- It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Group of 24 (G24) and the Commonwealth of Nations.
- Ghana is a unitary presidential constitutional democracy with a parliamentary multi-party system and former alternating military occupation.
- President: John Dramani Mahama.
- President-elect: Nana Akufo-Addo.
- Vice-President : Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.
- Capital city of Gana is Accra.
- Currency is Ghanaian cedi.
