Ghanaians wanted to vote for the new parliament and the new president in what is known as a “battle of two giants”.
Ghanaians vote in presidential and parliamentary elections. The race for the top spot has been dubbed a “battle of two giants” and is expected to be a close battle between reigning Nana Akufo-Addo and longtime opponent John Mahama.
Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea and has long been a beacon of democracy and stability in West Africa. Since returning to democracy nearly 30 years ago, it has provided peaceful transfers of power seven times.
The two main parties have always accepted the election results and pursued complaints in court.
Akufo-Addo, 76, and Mahama, 62, signed a symbolic peace pact on Friday to ensure the continued tradition of peaceful elections.
You are among 12 candidates including three women who run.
“In view of the events on the continent and indeed in West Africa, the whole world looks up to us to maintain our status as a beacon of democracy, peace and stability,” Akufo-Addo said in a televised address on Sunday evening.
Voters cast their votes for a new President and MP for 275 constituencies between 7:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m. GMT) and 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT) in 38,000 polling stations across the country.
The main issues are unemployment, infrastructure, education and health.
Ahmed Idris of Al Jazeera, who reported from the capital, Accra, said security at many polling stations is tough given the measures taken against COVID-19.
“The incumbent president is waging his biggest political battle in this election against the man he replaced in a highly competitive election four years ago,” he said.
“Now Akufo-Addo is trying to convince the Ghanaians that he is still the man for this job, while the opponent Mahama says that he can do better. There are another 10 candidates in the presidential election, but the main race is expected to take place between these two. “
Ghana has made great strides in the past two decades and has become the second largest cocoa producing country in the world. However, many still live in extreme poverty and have little access to clean water or electricity.
According to the International Monetary Fund, growth in the nation of 30 million people is expected to fall to 0.9 percent this year. This is the lowest level in 30 years and a sharp drop of 6.5 percent in 2019.
“Battle of Two Giants”
Akufo-Addo from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Mahama from the National Democratic Congress Party (NDC) have already faced each other three times at the ballot box.
The incumbent received high marks for his handling of the pandemic and his experience of free education and improving access to electricity.
But he has let down some of his anti-corruption achievements – the main theme he was elected on four years ago.
Even so, corruption is a difficult subject for Mahama as he himself resigned from office under a cloud of corruption allegations.
Mahama has also been criticized for bad economic decisions and unsustainable debts.
But the skilled communicator has brushed aside the criticism and made ambitious promises to build infrastructure, create jobs and modernize the country.
A bold move by Mahama was the choice of former Education Minister Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as a runner-up, the first woman on the ticket to a big party.
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