Ghana’s opposition rejects outcome of presidential polls

Electoral Commission (EC) Sunday evening announced that Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 50.70 percent of the total valid votes, avoiding a runoff, while his NPP challenger Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo got 47.74 percent. In a statement signed by NPP General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, the party said it had serious reservations about the validity of what the chairman of EC has done in declaring election results and accused NDC of conspiring with certain EC officials in constituencies across the country to falsify the election results.The NPP also said that the outcome didn’t reflect the mandate of the required majority of the Ghanaian electorate. The NPP will convene on Tuesday to decide next steps that the party will take in light of these events, the statement added. Earlier on Sunday, the opposition party asked the EC to suspend the announcement of Friday’s presidential election results, alleging malpractices and fraud in the election. Addressing a press conference, National Chairman of NPP Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey claimed that in a spate of constituencies, including Dome-Kwabenya, Osu-Klottey in Accra, and Savelugu (Northern Region), NDC had either tampered with electoral results or inflated ballot figures.Ahead of the announcement of results, dozens of DPP supporters marched to the headquarters of the EC, but they were stopped by the security services some 500 meters away from the building. A few protesters told Xinhua that they went there to call on the EC to present to Ghanaians fair election results, to carry out an investigation and not to announce final results before the investigation is completed. Mahama took office as president on July 24, 2012, following the death of his predecessor John Atta Mills.