After having lost Ghanas two previous elections to outgoing President John Kufuor, opposition candidate John Atta Mills now has won a tight presidential run-off in the West African country, electoral officials said according to BBC online Saturday.
The announcement came after results from the last constituency to vote showed him extending his lead over his rival, Nana Akufo-Addo, whose ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) boycotted Fridays vote, in Tain constituency.
Both sides have alleged vote-rigging in the poll. The run-off was closely watched as Ghana remains a rare example of democracy in West Africa.
The electoral commission said the results of the run-off showed Mr Atta Mills had won narrowly with 50,23 per cent of the vote, against 49,77 per cent for Mr Akufo-Addo.
Mr Akufo-Addo won the first round but not by enough to avoid the run-off
Head of the Electoral commission, Kwado Afari-Gyan, said in the capital, Accra, that the commission had considered allegations of vote-rigging by both sides but “did not find the evidence provided sufficient to invalidate the result”.
Outgoing President Kufuor has appealed for calm and said any complaints of vote-rigging should be dealt with by the courts after the new president is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday. Mr Atta Mills, aged 64, is a former vice-president.
