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Five people have been killed in electoral violence in Ghana as tensions flare during a close contest that both sides say are on track to win.
The Ghana Police Service said it recorded more than 60 incidents in Monday’s vote, in which President Nana Akufo-Addo ran for re-election against his main rival, former President John Mahama, and 10 other candidates. .
“Twenty-one of the incidents are actual cases of electoral violence, six of which involve gunfire that resulted in the deaths of five,” he said.
This week, independent observers congratulated Ghana for holding largely peaceful elections, in line with its reputation as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.
But tensions have risen as the Mahama and Akufo-Addo camps say their recounts show their lead candidate.
“There were problems on Election Day about the voting procedure, and immediately after the vote there were complaints about the way the result was being resolved,” said Ahmed Idris of Al Jazeera, reporting from Accra.
Supporters of the opposition party, the National Democratic Congress, protest in front of Ghana’s electoral commission [Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]
“What we are hearing right now is that in the city of Tamale there have been protests from the opposition party alleging that there were some irregularities and attempts to subvert with the will of the people.
“Here in the capital of Accra we also understand that there has been an incident at the headquarters of the electoral commission. And we have seen in the last minutes or so that the military police and other paramilitary organizations are making sure that there is no breach of public order ”.
The official results of the electoral commission are expected later on Wednesday.
Blame game
Monday’s vote was seen by observers as generally free and fair, but the political climate turned sour Tuesday night when Mahama accused his rival of displaying “very undemocratic credentials.”
Akufo-Addo, he claimed, had taken advantage of the military in an attempt to influence the outcome.
“You cannot use the military to try to overturn some of the electoral district results that we have won. We will resist any attempt to subvert the sovereign will of the people of Ghana, ”said the 62-year-old former president.
Mahama made the accusations after rumors circulated on social media that he had admitted defeat.
Hours earlier, the presidency, which released an unofficial tally, claimed that Akufo-Addo was ahead with 52.25 percent of the vote, compared with 46.44 percent for Mahama.
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told a press conference that the allegations of intimidation by the soldiers were false.
He also bluntly rejected Mahama’s claim that his center-left National Democratic Congress (NDC) had won a majority of 140 seats in the 275-member parliament.
“No candidate at this stage should undermine the work of the EC [electoral commission]It is irresponsible and would endanger the peace of this country, ”warned Oppong Nkrumah.
The chief observer for the European Union, Javier Nart, told a press conference on Wednesday that “Ghanaians voted freely.”
Security forces stand guard amid demonstrations [Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]
“While there were isolated violent incidents, both on election day and during the campaign… fortunately, fears of violence and vigilantism did not materialize. They were minor isolated incidents, some of them tragic. “
Mahama and Akufo-Addo, 76, are old rivals who have met at the polls twice before.
Mahama was president for four years until 2016 before being succeeded by Akufo-Addo. Both elections were determined by small margins.
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