Ghana: Narrow Lead For Opposition Candidate After Peaceful Presidential Runoff

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FRANCIS KOKUTSE | December 29, 2008 05:32 PM EST |

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Read More: Africa, Africa Ghana Elections, Akufo-Addo, Atta Mills, Ghana, Ghana Election, Ghana Presidential Election, Ghana Presidential Runoff, John Atta Mills, World News

Presidential candidate and leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Atta Mills receives his ballot from a polling agent as he prepares to vote during presidential elections in Accra, Ghana, Sunday Dec. 28, 2008. Ghanaians returned to the polls Sunday for a presidential runoff vote with Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling party facing opposition candidate John Atta Mills in an election expected to further solidify the country's status as one of Africa's few stable democracies.(AP Photo)

ACCRA, Ghana — Opposition leader John Atta Mills was leading in Ghana's presidential election Monday, and his supporters poured into the streets to claim victory after a local radio station said he would be the West African nation's next leader.

Official results of Sunday's runoff are expected Tuesday.

But on Monday the Electoral Commission certified results from 200 of 233 constituencies giving Atta Mills 4,065,883 votes, or 52.1 percent of counted ballots, compared with 47.9 percent, or 3,737,655 votes, for the governing party's Nana Akufo-Addo.

The influential and independent Radio Joy FM announced it "has projected Prof. John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress as Ghana's next president." It predicted that Atta Mills would win with 50.47 percent of votes.

Singing and dancing supporters of the academic spilled into the streets to declare their victory.

The governing New Patriotic Party challenged the radio station's call, with national chairman Peter Mac-Manu telling a news conference it was "highly speculative and premature, especially in the face of the challenges to both the process and many of its outcomes."

Both sides have accused the other of irregularities, and court challenges or demands for recounts are expected, with some analysts predicting Atta Mills could win by less than 50,000 votes in the extremely tight contest.

Atta Mills and Akufo-Addo, both aged 64 and British-educated barristers, topped a field of eight candidates but neither received more than the required 50 percent in the first round of voting on Dec. 7. They are vying to succeed President John Kufuor, who is retiring after two terms as required by law.

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Akufo-Addo, a 30-year veteran of Ghanaian politics, has campaigned on his party's success in driving the economy in Ghana, the world's No. 2 cocoa producer and the latest African nation to discover oil. Ghana's economy has grown by more than 6 percent annually since Akufo-Addo's party took office eight years ago. Investment has grown 20-fold and the discovery of oil is expected to boost state coffers by more than 20 percent with between $2 and $3 billion a year.

Atta Mills, an academic and tax specialist, accuses the governing party of corruption and says that is partly why the new wealth has not trickled down to most Ghanaians, who remain among the world's poorest citizens earning an average $3.80 a day. One in 10 adults is unemployed and 40 percent of the population cannot read or write.

Voting was largely peaceful with isolated reports of violence and irregularities that are not expected to affect the outcome.

Ghana, a rare example of democracy in a region of totalitarian states, suffered back-to-back coups in the 1970s and 1980s. But after ruling for 11 years, strongman Jerry Rawlings organized elections. He won two terms, then surprised critics by surrendering power when his party's candidate lost to Kufuor in the 2000 vote. Atta Mills belongs to Rawlings' party.

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On the Net:

http://www.attamills2008.com

http://www.akufoaddo.org

Radio Joy FM: http://www.myjoyonline.com