By Paul Ohia with agency reports
Former President Oluesgun Obasanjo will be leading the ECOWAS monitoring group, which is expected to oversee the conduct of the elections.
The main contenders
in today’s election are President John Dramani Mahama of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC), who was Mills deputy and took over after his death,
and Nana Ado Dankwa-Akufo of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Other presidential
candidates are Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr.
Abu Sakara of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Mr. Hassan Ayariga of the
People’s National Convention (PNC) and Dr. Henry Lartey of the Great
Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP). The rest are Mr. Akwasi Addae of the United
Front Party (UFP) and Mr. Jacob Osei Yeboah, an independent candidate.
For the parliamentary
election, 230 seats are up for grabs by the many people contesting for a seat
in the parliament.
Pundits point to the
fact that when Attah Mills died, the smooth transition of power to his
erstwhile deputy, Mahama, signified the coming of age of the democracy in Ghana Nigeria
Accordingly, the Ghanaian electoral commission has introduced a biometric system to stamp out incidents of double registration. It is also meant to remove ghost names, which were discovered to be in a previous registration exercise.
Accordingly, the Ghanaian electoral commission has introduced a biometric system to stamp out incidents of double registration. It is also meant to remove ghost names, which were discovered to be in a previous registration exercise.
Analysts believe that
the election is all about affirming two straight terms of four years each for
the ruling party or voting another party into power after just four years,
which would be the first time this would happened since 1992.
After the election of former President Jerry Rawlings in the 1992 elections, the second poll in 1996 saw him returning to the state house and this was repeated in 2004 when former President John Kufuor won a second term under NPP.
After the election of former President Jerry Rawlings in the 1992 elections, the second poll in 1996 saw him returning to the state house and this was repeated in 2004 when former President John Kufuor won a second term under NPP.
But political pundits
believe this could be threatened since the charisma exhibited by Mills is
absent in Mahama. Moreover, Dankwa-Akufo has been seen as having built strong
political structures, having earlier run for the post of president in the past.
The implication is
that Mills' demise has contributed to changing the political landscape, in
which an incumbent had a better chance of being re-elected. In addition to this
game changer, the formation of two new parties, NDP and Progressive Peoples
Party (PPP), which are offshoots of NDC and CPP, has been seen as a new
development that could throw up a surprise.
Moreover, the
introduction of Biometric Voter Identification Card and the electronic
verification equipment at the polling stations would reduce the likelihood of
rigging by the political parties.
Preparatory to the
polls, international observers have arrived Ghana
Obasanjo has held
several meetings with key stakeholders, which convinced him that all is set for
landmark free polls in Ghana
Before his arrival,
members of the country’s security services had already cast their votes to
enable them provide security during the polls. He was also informed that 13
million voters were registered for the election, which would be the sixth
uninterrupted general elections since 1992.
If a candidate fails
to emerge after the first round of the polls, which result would be announced
on Sunday, a runoff would be organised for December 28.
No comments:
Post a Comment