By Kemo Cham
Ghanaians are going to the polls today, Monday December 7th, in what promises to be round 2 of the 2016 elections that brought incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo to power.
In the 2016 election, Mr Akufo-Addo defeated the then incumbent president John Mahama, who is making a comeback.
Akufo-Addo, 76, is running under the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), while the Former President Mahama, who is 62, is running under the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The two heavyweights are contesting alongside 10 other candidates, among which are three women. But political analysts say the election is clearly a two-horse race.
This will be the third time Akufo-Addo and Mahama will be contesting the presidency.
The two first met in the contest in 2012, when Mahama narrowly defeated Akufo-Addo by gaining 50.7 percent of the votes. And in 2016 Akufo-Addo defeated Mahama with 53.8 percent of votes.
Observers say this race is also expected to be very tight, although independent polls have predicted a slim win for the incumbent.
Over 17 million Ghanaians are expected to cast their ballot in the election, which will be the eight time the country of Kwame Nkrumah is holding a democratic election since it gained independence from Britain in 1957.
In line with the trend in African elections, ethnic differences influence the Ghanaian election. But the country is credited for standing out as one which has largely managed to prevent post-election clashes.
Notheless, there have been reports of pre-election clashes in the current contest, amidst disagreements over the neutrality of the electoral commission. The opposition also has concerns over the compilation of the new voters register.
Mahama was particularly unpopular for the worsening state of electricity in Ghana under his watch. Many believe that contributed largely to his 2016 defeat.
Akufo-Addo, on the other hand, has been praised for his handling of electricity and education, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But the incumbent president hasn’t done well in the fight against corruption, in the view of his critics.
The 2019 Afrobarometer survey points to a rise in the rate of corruption, with 53 percent of Ghanaians saying the level of corruption in the country has risen.
Mahama promises to embark on infrastructural development.
The former president is running on the same ticket with a former education minister, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the first woman to run under the ticket of a major political party in the country.
Akufo-Addo is running with his current Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia.
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