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Transitions in Africa: The Two Sides of the Story

This months elections occurred in two African countries, Ghana and the Gambia. On Dec 1, 2016, Gambia went to the polls in which, unexpectedly, opposition candidate Adama Barrow defeated long-term incumbent Yahya Jammeh. Ghana followed up on Dec 7. Here also the leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the main opposition party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo defeated the incumbent president John Mahama, in what can be described as a landslide, looking at how close elections have been in Ghana over the past 20 years or so.

The post elections developments in the two countries though are different. In Gambia, Mr. Jammeh alleges widespread voter fraud and is calling for another fresh elections, in line with how politics is done in many African countries. In Ghana, President Mahama has called to congratulate Nana Addo and has promised to assist in a peaceful transition and his support for the incoming president to move the country forward.

These are the two faces of Africa. Maybe in the years to come, the Ghana story will be the norm but for now, we will be leaving with the two sides.

While the western media makes so much about events such as happening in the Gambia, there are many examples of the Ghana standard, and that deserve the same amount of media coverage.

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John Mahama Declared Winner in Close Ghana Election

Ghana’s presidential election has been won by incumbent President John Mahama, the electoral commission has announced.

The electoral commission said that Mr Mahama had won 50.7% against his NPP rival Nana Akufo-Addo on 47.74%.

The announcement came hours after the opposition accused the governing party of conspiring with commission staff to fix Friday’s poll.

Police in the capital Accra fired tear gas to disperse opposition protesters from outside the commission’s offices.

Roads around the electoral offices were also barricaded by police as the results were announced.

“Ladies and gentlemen, based on the results given, I declare John Dramani Mahama president-elect,” electoral commission chief Kwadwo Afari-Gyan told journalists.

Ghana, one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is regarded as one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

Mr Akufo-Addo lost the 2008 presidential poll by one percentage point, but accepted the result.

However, on Sunday his party said they had “enough concrete evidence” to prove that he actually won this year’s election.

“The ruling NDC conspired with certain EC staff in constituencies across the country to falsify the election results and thereby abuse the mandate of the people of Ghana,” the party said.

“It was this planned, systematic stealing of votes at the collation level that was, thankfully, discovered in time.”

The party cited discrepancies between initial tally sheets and the results reported in the media.

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Election Observers Interim Report on Ghana Election Dec 2012

EISA ELECTION OBSERVER MISSION TO THE 7TH DECEMBER 2012 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN GHANA INTERIM STATEMENT

1. Introduction

Following an invitation by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) deployed a twenty five member Election Observer Mission to the 2012 Ghana Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. The EISA Election Observer Mission was led by Mr. Ahmed Issack Hassan, the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Kenya, assisted by the Deputy Mission Leader, Mr. Vincent Tohbi, Director of Programmes at EISA. The members of the Mission were drawn from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) from thirteen countries namely Burundi, Canada, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sweden, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

The deployment of the mission was consistent with EISA’s mission of “the promotion of credible elections, citizen participation and the strengthening of political institutions for sustainable democracy in Africa”. The EISA mission was equipped with high tech computer tablets which it used to transmit information regarding the pre-voting, voting and post-voting processes from its various teams across the country to the Mission Command Centre located at the M?venpick Hotel in Accra in real time.

The Mission noted significant efforts made by the Ghanaian electoral stakeholders to improve the voter registration through adopting biometric technology in a bid to enhance the credibility and integrity of the voters register. The 2012 elections were therefore a litmus test on the newly adopted biometric voter registration which produced new voter ID cards. The EISA Mission commends the enthusiastic and generally peaceful participation of the Ghanaian citizens in the elections. The Mission further extends its gratitude to the electoral stakeholders and the people of Ghanafor their hospitality and for having availed themselves to meet and share their perspectives on the electoral process with the Mission. Continue reading “Election Observers Interim Report on Ghana Election Dec 2012”

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