It’s election day In Ghana as the West African country goes to the polls to elect their president and members of the parliament.
The incumbent president, John Mahama is in a tight race with his main rival, former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo. The winner will serve a four-year term and salvage the Ghanaian economic which at present is stuttering, currency deteriorating and inflation on the high.
There are some 15 million registered voters. Polling starts at 0700 GMT and closes at 1700 GMT across the West African country. An exporter of gold, cocoa and oil, Ghana was once hailed as a regional growth model but has now taken on too much debt.
There are seven candidates battling for the top job and if the smaller parties perform well and deny either men a majority, a presidential run-off will be held later in December.
Mahama, 58, is running for a second term, with Akufo-Addo, 72, making his third — and likely last — bid for the highest office.
Leaving nothing to chance on the last day of campaigning Monday, Mahama held three rallies in the major swing regions of Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti and Greater Accra.
Mahama’s final rally was full of supporters wearing white — a sign of victory — banging cowbells, dancing and posing for selfies.
“We’re celebrating already,” said Alhaji Guntula, a 45-year-old businessman with his face painted white told AFP. “He’s winning hands down.”
Mahama has announced several infrastructure projects during the campaign.
In contrast, Akufo-Addo has hammered on Ghana’s poor economic growth, the slowest rate in two decades at 3.3 percent in 2016 according to the International Monetary Fund, and has outlined detailed plans to get the economy back on track.
He has lambasted Mahama’s ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government over a series of corruption scandals in which scores of judges have been implicated. Critics say he squandered the country’s commodity wealth and turned a blind eye to graft within his inner circle.
During his tenure, the Bank of Ghana controversially bought half a million dollars worth of gold Swiss watches for some of its staff.
The leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has also alleged that the ruling party is fomenting violence, a claim Mahama denies.
