Ghana's President Elect Nana Akufo-Addo paying homage to Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, King of the Ga people. Creative Commons image by Kabil75.
Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo [1] of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won Ghana's presidency on December 7 [2] standing as a candidate for the third time. Akufo-Addo got 53.85% of the votes in the election, while outgoing President John Mahama got 44.4%.
In a continent where elections are often marred by violence, rigging, election-day internet shutdowns and other irregularities, the peaceful nature of Ghana's election cemented its position as a beacon of democracy in Africa. The international community has praised [3]the country for the way the elections were managed.
Just recently, Gambia's president Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, rejected the election result [4], after he was defeated by opposition leader Adam Barrow.
Only days before he spoke out against supposed irregularities, he had accepted his defeat [5] and phoned Barrow to congratulate him on his victory, informing him that he bore “no ill will”. Apparently, he had a change of heart.
Echoing similar sentiments, Kenyan lawyer Chris Mwangi tweeted:
Ghana is consistently one of those African countries that gives the western media nothing negative to report about Africa.#GhanaDecides [6]
— Chris Mwangi (@Mwangixtopher) December 8, 2016 [7]
He was not completely right, though, as Gary Al-Smith pointed out:
Uhm @CNN [8], I didn't know Ghanaians “stand in long lines to obtain products” or “struggle to obtain food”. And I live there. #CNNGetItRight [9] pic.twitter.com/tpyosBIrJJ [10]
— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) December 11, 2016 [11]
Akwasi Sarpong, Ghanaian BBC presenter, reacted to the victory of the opposition NPP by sharing one curious fact:
And so the myth continues: whenever the US Republican Party wins elections, Ghana's NPP wins & Vice Versa. #GhanaDecides [6] ?
— Akwasi Sarpong (@akwasisarpong) December 9, 2016 [12]
Since 1992 when Ghana introduced multiparty democracy, voters in Ghana and USA have indeed been following a similar pattern [13].
Ghanaian blogger and writer Jemila Abdulai underscored the maturing nature of Ghana's democracy:
The fact that some NDC strongholds chose to elect MPs from NPP says A LOT. Ghana's democracy maturing beyond “party politics” #GhanaDecides [6]
— Jemila #GhanaDecides (@jabdulai) December 9, 2016 [14]
Another Twitter user shared the following interesting fact:
Gh is d only country wer you'd see D president-elect n his supporters ??????dancing to the oppositions campaign song #GhanaDecides [6] Onaapo ??
— #Frisky4Peace (@FriskyDeGeneral) December 10, 2016 [15]
Supporters of the President-Elect Nana Akufo-Addo celebrated his victory [16] with the campaign song of the losing candidate John Mahama, ‘Onaapo’. The song has become so popular that Ghanaian musician Barima Sidney has already released a remix of the song [17].
Mahama conceded defeat [18] and called Akufo-Addo to congratulate him even before the official results were released.
Silver Kayondo noted:
Reading Mahama's concession speech. Very reflective man. He's not a loser. He's a winner on the side of #history [19] & #values [20]! #GhanaDecides [6]
— Silver Kayondo (@SilverKayondo) December 10, 2016 [21]
Kuukuwa Manful wrote:
46 years after his father Edward Akufo-Addo became president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo becomes president-elect of Ghana. #GhanaDecides [6] pic.twitter.com/9gnTiKQrr0 [22]
— Kuukuwa Manful (@Kuukuwa_) December 9, 2016 [23]
Akufo-Addo's father Edward Akufo-Addo [24], was non-executive President of Ghana from 1970 till 1972.
Masesebe Wa Ramahuma, a South African reporter, expressed the following wish:
Congratulations black stars. I wish African countries could go to elections with less or no drama then #Africa [25] will be saved. #GhanaDecides [6]
— Masesebe Wa Ramahuma (@masesebe) December 10, 2016 [26]
Greenbook Ghana, a platform that showcases the achievements of outgoing President Mahama, looks forward to two of the main election promises that were made by Akufo-Addo.
@GabbyDarko [27] @adano82 [28] we look forward to the delivery of 1factory in each district #ghanaelections [29] #GhanaDecides [6]
— Greenbook Ghana (@greenbook_ghana) December 10, 2016 [30]
@bonti_benjamin [31] @amiddleGh [32] we look forward to the 1 dam, 1 village #ghanaelections [29] #GhanaDecides [6]
— Greenbook Ghana (@greenbook_ghana) December 10, 2016 [33]
Akufo-Addo has promised one irrigation dam for every village [34]in the northern part of the country and one factory in every 216 districts [35] in the country, campaign pledges that many believe are unfeasible to fulfil.
Twitter user Ikon Massive took a dig at Ghana's neighbour, Nigeria:
Slightly used President for sale. Better still you can take him for free. Nigerians are you interested?#GhanaDecides [6] pic.twitter.com/VV47oSEsNf [36]
— MASSIVE (@IKON_MASSIVE) December 10, 2016 [37]
Finally, Kinna, the project lead for @GhanaDecides [38], reminded Ghanaians:
In all this #GhanaDecides [6] euphoria, let's remember that elections, though crucial, are a small part of democracy.
— Kinna #GhanaDecides (@kinnareads) December 10, 2016 [39]