John Mahama wins as Mahamudu Bawumia accepts defeat
Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia concedes defeat in Saturday’s election and congratulates opposition candidate, Former President John Mahama, celebrating his victory.
“The people voted for change,” Bawumia said.
The election comes amid the country’s worst economic crisis in a generation, which has seen it default on its debt.
Despite Bawumia’s concession, official results have yet to be announced.
The Electoral Commission (EC) said results were delayed because supporters of the two main parties blocked the process and asked police to clear verification centres.
Mahama’s supporters took to the streets to celebrate in his northern stronghold of Tamale, the central city of Kumasi and the capital Accra.
Bawumia said his statement was based on internal statistics from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He said these showed Mahama’s “decisive” victory, while the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) also won the parliamentary elections.
Mahama confirmed that Bawumia had called to congratulate him on his “big victory”.
The NDC earlier said its internal results showed Mahama won 56 per cent of the vote, while Bawumia won 41 per cent.
The vice president said he accepted defeat “to avoid further tensions and preserve peace in our country” before the results are officially announced.
President Nana Akufo-Addo is resigning after reaching the official limit of two terms.
Mahama, 65, led Ghana from 2012 to 2017 before being replaced by Akufo-Addo. Mahama also lost the 2020 election, so this victory represents a stunning comeback.
Since Ghana returned to multi-party politics in 1992, only candidates from the National Democratic Party or the National People’s Party have won the presidency.
No party has been in power for more than two consecutive terms – a trend that looks set to continue.
Mahama’s last term was marred by a sluggish economy, frequent power outages and corruption scandals.
However, Ghanaians hope things will be different this time.
In Tamale, NDC supporter Gajia One told the BBC: “We handed the country over to them (NPP) and thought they would be able to run the country well, but they failed and we took over again.”
“John Mahama is the right man to rule this country. We have had enough.”
Additional reporting by Natasha Buti
