Ghana Polls: Contestants seek electorates’ vote

                 

Ghanaians started lining up at voting stations on Wednesday to elect a president and parliament, in polls dominated by a three-year economic downturn that led to heavy job losses and price hikes.
President John Mahama is running for a second four-year term in the West African nation rich in gold, cocoa, diamonds, aluminium, bauxite and recently discovered oil.
                              
Presidential and Parliamentary elections are currently going on in Ghana. The elections began this morning at 7:00a.m across the 275 polling stations and will end by 5:00p.m.

There are seven persons contesting for the presidential position and they include, the current president, John Mahama from National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, National Democratic Party (NDP),

Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Edward N. Mahama, People’s National Convention (PNC); and Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah, an independent presidential candidate.

A candidate must have at least 50% of the total votes in order to win the election. In a situation where no one has 50% of the votes, the top two candidates will have a run-off in two weeks time

Mahama is competing with six other candidates for the presidency, but his fiercest rival is Nana Akufo-Addo, the leader of the largest opposition, New Patriotic Party (NPP).
                              

Reports say the incumbent president remains popular in the nation of 26 million people, which was the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence in colonial Africa, in 1957.
The 58-year-old made major progress in improving Ghana’s infrastructure by building schools, health facilities and roads.
                                 

However, many voters held Mahama and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) responsible for a debilitating three-year energy crisis that led to a 10 percent drop in economic growth between 2011 and 2015.


They also held him responsible for the sharp rise in electricity, water and petrol prices.
Akufo-Addo, 72, promises to use Ghana’s new-found oil to create jobs and push industrialisation in all economic sectors, including agriculture.
                              

Over 15 million Ghanaians are eligible to cast their vote at one of the 29,000 polling stations until 1700 GMT.
They will also elect 275 parliamentarians for the next four years.
If no presidential candidate gains 51 percent or more of the vote, the election will go into a second round.
Results are expected within 72 hours after voting ends.