Link to Article: “Ghana’s opposition rejects election results”
This past week, on December 7th, citizens of Ghana headed to the polls to cast their vote for their next president and parliamentary representation. The result of this election showed that the current president, Nana Akufo-Addo, had been re-elected to serve another term in office. Unfortunately, these results did not meet the approval of many Ghanaians. With having secured 51.59 percent of the votes, the results came very near to each other.
Because of the mass-disapproval of the election, Ghana has seen uprisings and violence, protesting the results. The violence has become fatal, with a reported five people killed in election-related conflicts. Furthermore, the presidential runner up, John Mahama, has made statements accusing Afuko-Addo of fraudulent interference in the election, although claims have been disproved by the government.
After 30 years of holding a peaceful democracy, Ghana is now experiencing conflict regarding its leadership. I think the situation is incredibly disappointing, considering almost half of the country isn’t in agreeance with their elected leader. Violent reactions from citizens, including fatalities, don’t bode well for the years leading up to Ghana’s next election. This may create distrust between citizens and the government, throwing off the peaceful democracy that Ghana held. Although it is a country that has seen great development in the past few years, low approval of leadership may lead to poor cooperation between civilians and government leaders, hurting the country’s success in the long run. Transparency between the government and the people may be vital in this case, with possible investigations on the election to disprove claims of fraudulent interference.
Ghana, or the Republic of Ghana, operates as a presidential republic with a semi-presidential system, including parliament as their legislative body. Akufo-Addo, the president-elect, is a member of the New Patriotic Party- a political party holding views and policies aligning with liberal-conservatism. The administration will be in charge of issues concerting separatist regimes within the country, involving different groups throughout Western Togoland seeking sovereignty and independence from Ghana.