Ghana’s former leader John Dramani Mahama has been declared the winner of the presidential election on Monday and pledged “a life of limitless opportunity” for citizens after voters vented their anger over the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. According to the Electoral Commission, Mahama received 56.5% of votes cast, or 6.3 million votes while his main opponent from the current governing party, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, got 41%, or 4.6 million votes. Electoral commissioner Jean Mensa said vote-counting continued in nine constituencies but would not change the final result. Turnout was just over 60%. The 65-year-old president elect had promised to “reset” the country on various fronts. His campaign prioritized the economy and largely appealed to young Ghanaians who saw the vote as a way out of the economic crisis. In his victory speech on Monday, Mahama said Ghana must be able to meet the basic needs of its people including affordable housing, health care, food, clean water, safe work and fair wages. “We want a Ghana that considers the well-being of all her citizens and affords them each the ability to live a life of dignity, a life of limitless opportunity,” he said. “This country, this land, is not for one person or for one family or for one tribe or ethnic group.” He said the last eight years under outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo have “left a scar on our national psyche, which may take some time to erase.” Mahama’s National Democratic Congress also won the majority in parliament. The election for both the president and members of parliament was seen as a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups. West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, called the election generally peaceful, not unusual for Ghana. Mahama was previously president of the West African nation between 2012 and 2017,
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