Nana Akuffo Addo Elected President of Ghana 71


With 185 out of 275 constituency results in, I am calling the election for President Elect Nana Akuffo Addo. There is a surprisingly uniform swing to Nana across every region of the country, and he cannot lose from this position.

This is the swing to Nana region by region, based on my constituency by constituency analysis of the results. There is a swing to the NPP in every single region.

Swing to Nana Akuffo Addo

Ashanti Region 6.1%
Brong Ahafo 6.3%
Central 7.6%
Eastern 5.1%
Greater Accra 4.2%
Northern 4.7%
Upper East 5.6%
Upper West 6.2%
Volta 3.2%
Western 9.2%

Ultimately I predict Nana Akuffo Addo will get a strong mandate with 53.1% of the vote once counting has finished.

I believe this result is a popular reaction against levels of corruption in Ghana that had become terrifying. I am very happy indeed that Ghana has yet again shown it is a mature democracy, and for the third time this millennium the ruling party has been democratically replaced by the opposition.


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71 thoughts on “Nana Akuffo Addo Elected President of Ghana

  • Noonereally

    The last paragraph underlies the contrast with Gambia, the source a week ago of a bit of good news that bowled me over.

  • Herbie

    Is this another shock win for the forces of reaction like Brexit, Trump, Italy and the rest, or is this the glorious fightback a la Richmond.

  • Komens

    Craig, I was waiting for your comment. I read your memoirs of your work in Ghana and how instrumental you were in the 2000 elections. I have an apprehension that the ruling party will not hand over power to the NPP. You know that they always have a plan to hold on to power. The delay of the electoral commission in announcing the results raises suspicion. Do you have any credible contacts on the ground to ascertain what is really going on? I hear all the NDC leadership claiming that they are leading and have clear victory. Do you see what is coming?

    • craig Post author

      Komens yes the NDC press conference claiming victory was disgraceful. But my main fears were that they would act before this stage- I feared unusual levels of fraud, but these have been overwhelmed by the popular discontent. I think it’s gone too far for them to row back. My instincts were not to trust the new lady at the Electoral Commission, but I don’t see what they can do in the face of such overwhelming evidence. Yes, I have no shortage of people on the ground. šŸ™‚

      • Frank

        This is what they (NDC, EC) can do. The number of votes cast is about 10 million. There are 15 milion registered voters. The EC stated that the turn-out is little bit less then 50%. But this 50% amounts to only some 7.5 million votes.
        Some months before thus election the definition of overvoting that Bawumia used (the definition that makes common sense, not the ‘classical’ definition from Afari Gyan) ), was accepted by the EC. According to this definition the overvoting is 2.5 million. The mess is inconclusive. It will lead to a second round.

  • Chief Barr. J.U Ugonna (Nigeria)

    May i congratulate the new Leader of West African Country- Nana Akufo-Addo.

  • Old Mark

    O/T but hot news-

    Craig’s latent authoritarian itch will remain just irritatingly out of his backscratchers reach over the festive season; the Dutch court has convicted Wilders of ‘hate speech’ against Moroccans but has shied away from sending him down to chokey-

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38260377

    Dutch Populists 1 EuroElites 0

    • Habbabkuk

      It is characteristic of continental European courts that convicted politicians are given suspended sentences as I believe is the English expression (“avec sursis” in French).

    • Anon1

      Craig wanted to see Wilders locked up, but the fact that he now has a criminal conviction for exercising his right to free speech is still a disgrace.

  • Uzbek in the UK

    The question is what Ghana has that others in Africa do not have to sustain democracy. Corruption is very widespread across Africa but only few countries where power transition (if occurs) is not followed by some sort of bloodshed.

    I say well done Ghana.

  • Uzbek in the UK

    In the meantime, Moscow authorities approved site for erecting islam karimov’s monument in the square which has earlier been renamed after islam karimov.

    So not only karimov did not face justice (for ordering to butcher hundreds including women and children in Andijan) but also being celebrated across (at least) former soviet union.

    Accidentally no street or place in Uzbekistan itself has yet been named after karimov and no monument has been erected (except his death-tomb). Probably putin pays respect to his spiritual master.

    • Trowbridge H. Ford

      See that you detest Putin, but he does’t run Moscow.

      And if he wanted a statue built for Karimov, it would be in St. Petersburg where he lived until he became President.

      You are just engaged in trashing him for Uzbekistan’s problems which he, like you, was forced to live with.

      • Habbabkuk

        “See that you detest Putin, but he doesā€™t run Moscow”
        __________________

        You are right – he runs the entire country.

        • Trowbridge H. Ford

          By that standard, you can claim that Lord Brougham really supported Louis Napoleon since Cannes named a square, and built a statue of him on horseback after he died in 1868.

          Of course Brougham so hated the French dictator that he was treated as an alien though he had some property there.

          Brougham even mounted an alarm in the UK against him invading after he seized power.

          Dictators don’t have the time, effort, and interest in running everything.

          Sure that Putin doesn’t want any statue for this troublesome Islam.

  • Republicofscotland

    Staying on African elections I see Adam Barrow, has defeated Yahya Jammeh.

    The election marks the first change of presidency in The Gambia since a military coup in 1994, and the first transfer of power by popular election, since independence from Britain in 1965.

    Is there a wind of change, spreading across the great continent of Africa?

    • bevin

      We’ll know if we see change. These are just election results. And elections rarely lead to fundamental change. Look around you-Scotland!

      • Republicofscotland

        Bevin.

        You are wrong, post 2007 Scotland politically, changed dramatically, once the old unionist guards were defeated.

        Prior to 2007, Labour could’ve put up a chimpanzee in a suit and red rosette, in certain areas of Scotland, and still won comfortably.

  • K Crosby

    ~~~~~for the third time this millennium the ruling party has been democratically replaced by the opposition.~~~~~

    Dos this mean that the legislature has no sovereignty, it doesn’t matter because the opposition is the other cheek or that all political parties are united in repudiating IMF-World Bank-US imperialism?

    • Habbabkuk

      No African politician is against the IMF and World Bank. After all, they offer rich pickings for embezzlers present and future.

        • Habbabkuk

          I wouldn’t have called Khaddafi an “African leader”.

          You probably won’t know this but North Africans of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) can’t stand being called “Africans”.

          It’s a tad racist, but as we all know racism is by means only a European phenomenon.

          • Anon1

            Excellent point. The worst racism I have ever heard came out of the mouths of Arab Moroccans talking about ‘Africans’.

          • Habbabkuk

            Thank you for that confirmation, Anon1.

            The important point is that one should not forget – and not gloss over or even deny – that racism is not confined to Caucasians.

            Unfortunately it IS often forgotten, glossed over and denied by those of a anti-West persuasion.

          • Herbie

            “I wouldnā€™t have called Khaddafi an ā€œAfrican leaderā€.”

            You may not have done, but he tried to be so.

            Tried to wean them from Western corruption.

            Tried the same with the Arab leaders too.

  • Sharp Ears

    Ghana president admits defeat in poll
    6 minutes ago

    Ghana’s President John Mahama concedes victory to opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo, ruling NDC party says

    BBC

  • Habbabkuk

    re the Gambian election, according to The Guardian:

    “..If Jammeh sticks to his word {ie, to hand over power } Barrow will become only the third Gambian head of state since the countryā€™s independence in 1965.”

    ____________________________

    Two (ueber-executive) heads of state during 51 years, eh.

    It must be wonderful to be a politician so beloved of his people.

    Not like those nasty Western politicos, take your eye off them for more than a minute and they’re gone!!

    • bevin

      You do realise, (do you?) that contributions such as this one are transparently racist? It does you credit that you are blissfully unaware of the character traits that you betray in these observations of yours.

      • Habbabkuk

        Did I get something wrong there?

        Having reflected, it may be that those two leaders didn’t share 51 years of power because they were deeply loved by their people.

        Perhaps it was because they acted as petty dictators who didn’t believe in elections. Or held rigged elections.

        You tell me, Bevs šŸ™‚

    • Anon1

      It is being reported thay Jammeh is now demanding a rerun of the election.

      I couldn’t believe he let go so easily.

  • Anon1

    Labour defend coming fourth in Sleaford by-election:

    “Some people said we were going to come fifth. We didn’t come fifth.”

    Current voting intentions:

    Tories 42%
    Labour 25%

    Jeremy Corbyn 7/4 to be replaced as Labour leader next year.

    Hang in there Jez.

  • Sharp Ears

    Today, December 10th, is UN Human Rights Day. Kathy Kelly visits a refugee camp in Kabul where the conditions for the 700 families there are appalling.

    ‘Human Rights Day: A Call to Care
    by Kathy Kelly / December 9th, 2016

    December 10th marks the U.N. Human Rights Day, celebrating and upholding the indispensable and crucial declaration of universal human rights. On the eve of this event, I visited a refugee camp housing 700 families in Kabul. Conditions in refugee camps can be deplorable, intolerable. Here, the situation is best described as surreal. As I approach the entrance to the camp with my friends Nematullah, Zarghuna and Henrietta, we are overcome by the stench emanating from an open sewer filled with filth. I ask myself, ā€œCan this be real?ā€

    Inside the camp, primitive mud huts are separated by narrow walkways. When the inevitable snow comes, the ground inside and outside the homes will be muddy until the mud freezes. Plastic has been placed over some of the doors and roofs, in hopes of providing insulation from the coming cold. Mothers in the camp tell us winter months are unbearably hard. Children become sick at the onset of winter and they donā€™t recover until spring arrives. People burn plastic, boots, clothing, and water bottles for fuel, but when those resources are depleted, they rely solely on heavy blankets to protect them from the cold.

    A single water pump serves all 700 families, and the water isnā€™t even potable. It needs to be boiled for twenty minutes before use.

    Latrines here are the ā€œtraditional type,ā€ simple holes dug in the ground.’

    [..]

    Up to the end of 2014, the US had spent more money for ā€˜reconstructionā€™ in Afghanistan** than what was allotted for the Marshall Plan. More than two thirds of this had gone to build up Afghan military and police forces), yet Afghans remain one of the poorest people in the world.

    At the same time, the U.S. Congress has authorized $618.7 billion for the National Defense Authorization Act, to fund the Department of Defense in 2017. Even a fraction of this budget, directed toward human needs, would solve the problem of starving children worldwide as well as meet the needs of the destitute people living in the camps throughout Afghanistan.’

    /..
    http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/12/human-rights-day-a-call-to-care/

    **
    Links
    U.S. aid to Afghanistan exceeds Marshall Plan in costs, not results
    http://www.latimes.com/world/afghanistan-pakistan/la-fg-afghanistan-us-aid-outlook-20140731-story.html

    U.S. Congress passes $618.7 billion annual defense bill
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-congress-idUSKBN13X26G

  • KingofWelshNoir

    Wow I had a really weird dream last night! I dreamt that one of the posters here who regularly tells us that earthquakes are triggered by the US military using esoteric ‘black’ technology, attacked other posters for believing fake conspiracy theories, such as the Lady Di one. Ha ha I must stop eating that cheese before I go to bed.

    • Alcyone

      You literally must. Cheese is fermented and heavy so maybe the night is not the best time anyway.

      On another note, King have you read Dylan’s Changing of the Guards? Wonder what you make of it?

  • Anon1

    Re. Gambia, here is how I see the situation developing.

    Pro-Barrow, pro-democracy protestors take to the streets to protest decision to rerun the election

    Jammeh (‘Dodger’ – h/t: Alcyone (he writes the best)) calls on largely loyal military to crush protests, resulting in several deaths.

    Internet shut down, curfews imposed, opposition leaders and journalists arrested.

    Jammeh wins rigged rerun of the election.

  • Anon1

    Quite funny to see Craig writing about popular reactions and the triumph of democracy when on the previous thread he expressed his contempt for democratic outcomes and said that referendums should be ignored.

      • Anon1

        “The SNP have just confirmed that it is legitimate for the UK Parliament to block the result of a legal, democratic referendum. They themselves voted to do so. But then it would equally be legitimate for the UK Parliament to block the result of a referendum on Scottish independence.”

        Nailed.

        • Why be Ordinary

          If they wanted to block it, so it would. In the UK sovereignty is held by the King in Parliament, not by the people (unless the EU referendum really was a revolution…)

      • Republicofscotland

        If anything it’s Westminster that’s reached the end, using Brexit. Labour have backed the Tory Brexit, on the condition that the Tories reveal their plan after Brexit.

        It’s a safe bet that the Tories, will not publish anything as significant as the SNP’s White Paper.

  • Anon1

    Jammeh has now “annulled” the election and rejects the results of the election “in totality”. Gunfire reported in Banjul overnight.

    TIA, Danny.

  • Habbabkuk

    Well, at least the two Gambian Presidents since independence (in 1970) shared out these last 46 years equally.

    The first – Sir Dadwa Jawara – ruled from 1970 to 1994, when he was deposed and replaced by the current incumbent, Colonel Yahya Jammeh.

    There is no evidence that the coup was engineered or supported by the CIA, MI6, Mossad, the Rothschilds, the Illuminati, the Bilderbergers, Tony Blair, the BBC or Rupert Murdoch, or that Mr John Pilger ever denounced it in anu shape or form.

    I believe President Jammeh distinguished himself not only by his general incompetence but also through his extreme tolerance of gays whether local or foreign.

  • Republicofscotland

    Good to see that Russia and Assad are close to liberating Aleppo from the Western/Israeli/Saudi terrorists, though the Western press and media, are doing their best to twist and contort the truth.

    In a sheer act of desperation, the US are still pushing the Russia hacked the POTUS campaign.

    Yes Russia action around the globe are not a paragon of truth and justice, and Assad is a dictator.

    However that doesn’t give Nato and its minions the right to charge into Syria, to regime change under the guise of democracy and freedom. When in reality the the five year war, was started over a gas pipe line.

    NATO has been given a bloody nose, one they deserved, will they learn from it? I doubt it.

    • Habbabkuk

      Yes and it seems that the Syrian Fuehrer (aka “President” Assad Jnr) has already set his secret police to work disappearing people.

      His turn will come once IS has been kicked out of Syria. Arab despots invariably come to a bad end sooner or later.

      • bevin

        “Arab despots invariably come to a bad end sooner or later.’
        Tell that to the GCC. Arab despots seem to live until they die and hand over the reins to their successors- I can’t think of any set of heads of government who are less likely to come to a ‘bad end’ than the Amirs and Sultans of the Arab world.
        It is the enemies of imperialism who come to bad ends and most of the tyrants are very happy to buy the empire’s protection services. Check them out of a map: Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco etc etc.

        • lysias

          Speaking of Arab tyrants coming to bad ends, commenters on Moon of Alabama report that the Houthis have invaded deep inside Saudi Arabia. One wonders how much longer the Saudi monarchy can survive, and in particular whether it can continue to maintain its rule over the northeast province with all the oil, which has a predominantly Shiite population.

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