Breaking
politics newsJoe Biden just took the oath of office. He was sworn in by Chief Supreme Court J.. 0
extra newsTwitter has suspended President Donald Trump from its platform, the company said.. 14
extra newsFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post that the social media giant was bann.. 23
politics newsThis was after he beat Professor Aaron Mike Quaye, the Speaker of the Seventh Pa.. 19
politics newsNana Akufo-Addo took the Presidential Oath and the Oath of Allegiance administer.. 21
technology newsAn Elasticsearch database with over 380 million records, including login credent.. 42
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact us
  • Login
  • Covid19 Cases
  • Confirmed
  • Deaths
  • Recovered
  • Recovery(%)
Weather Ghana, °C
392 954 118 1.9k
Show Menu
  • Home
  • News
    • Financial
    • Business
    • Social
    • Extra
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Education
    • Opinion
    • Religion
    • Science
    • Technology
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Gossip
  • Institutions
  • Blogs
  • Classifieds
    • Events
    • Auto
    • Real Estate
    • Announcement
  • Lifestyle
    • Gadgets
    • Recipes
  • Ghana
    • eDocuments
  • Jobs
  • Contact us

Ghana goes to the polls today for a presidential election

07 Dec 2008 910 news, politics

Ghana Goes To The Polls



Ghana goes to the polls today for a presidential election Website
ACCRA, Ghana | Political scientists use a simple test to determine whether a country has a mature democracy: Has it had two successful handovers of power from one legitimately elected leader to another? Analysts and investors have their eyes trained on Ghana, whose 23 million people are expected to join the ranks of the world’s stable democracies when they go to the polls today to elect their next president. Unlike its neighbors whose rulers came to power in coups and never ceded control, Ghana suffered back-to-back coups in the 1970s and 1980s but then took a turn. After ruling for 11 years, ex-strongman Jerry Rawlings organized elections. He won two terms, then surprised the world by ceding power when his party’s candidate lost to rival John Kufuor in the 2000 vote. It’s now President John Kufuor’s turn to do so after two terms in office, and analysts expect he will abide by term limits and step aside without a fuss, marking the second successful handover, a milestone not just for the country but also for Africa as a whole. Today’s election pits the ruling New Patriotic Party’s Nana Akufo-Addo against seven opposition candidates. Akufo-Addo’s main challenge comes from John Atta Mills, the candidate of Rawlings’ National Democratic Congress. “Moving around the continent, you can come up with — maybe — a handful of nations that have pulled this off,” said Africa expert Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University. “That’s why this election is so significant.” The nations that have met the litmus test are few and include Benin, which in 1991 was the first African nation to transfer power from a dictatorship to a democracy. Recent setbacks include Mauritania, which held its first democratic elections in more than 40 years last year and saw those gains reversed in a coup 1½ years later. Catastrophic failures include Kenya and Zimbabwe, both of whose leaders refused to relinquish control after recent elections, causing their countries to descend into violence. In Ghana’s capital, voters are keenly aware of the responsibility they bear. “We have an image to protect,” said Sylvia Annoh, spokeswoman for the country’s electoral commission. “We are an example for Africa,” she said, adding that not only was Ghana the first African country to declare independence in 1957, it is now poised to become a model for the region. Voters are also acutely aware of the stakes. With an annual growth rate topping 6 percent, the country is one of the continent’s few economic success stories. However, there is a stark standard of living gap that has fueled the country’s opposition, which argues that wealth has failed to trickle down. Still, over the past four years, foreign investment has grown over twenty-fold, from around $100 million in 2004 to $2.6 billion this year, according to Rosa Whitaker, a former assistant U.S. trade representative for Africa who now advises the government. “When people ask me why I am so confident this election will go smoothly, I say because people have something to lose,” she said. Even more so following the discovery last year of offshore oil reserves. The revenue from the discovery is expected to pump an extra $2 billion to $3 billion a year into the state purse.




Source: kansascity



Prev article
Next article

0 Comments

view all comments

Related

politics news

Joe Biden takes the oath of office 0

politics news

President Akufo-Addo sworn into office 21

politics news

Alban Bagbin sworn in as Speaker of Eighth Parliament of Ghana's fourth republic 19

politics news

Akufo-Addo wins 2020 presidential election 74

politics news

Gov’t calls for calm as the nation awaits Presidential Election results 73

Gadget Reviews

Bevy photo-sharing device 222

Gadget Votes: 1 |5 out of 5
1/7/2016

Samsung's Family Hub Fridge 263

Gadget Votes: 1 |5 out of 5
1/7/2016

oombrella 250

Gadget Votes: 1 |3 out of 5
1/29/2016
View more articles

Tag Cloud

social politics business opinion sports education health technology religion extra science Classifieds Jobs

Photo Gallery

Send Email

Write a Comment


Resident Manager

All Ghana Data, P. O. Box Ah 9182, Ahinsan, Ashanti, Ghana
+233 27 872 7027
i-desk@allghanadata.com

Popular Articles

Idris Elba almost died in Ghana466

27 Nov 2015

Lucky Dube’s Daughter To Rock Ghana1686

16 Nov 2011
View more articles

Popular Categories

  • news
  • institutions
  • entertainment
  • blogs
  • recipes
  • classifieds

Random Selfies Feed

View Gallery
  • Home
  • Privacy
  • Classifieds
  • Lifestyle
  • Jobs
  • Sitemap
  • Contact us

©Copyright 2002-2021 All Ghana Data All Rights Reserved | Powered by SASCMS