By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has staged a political comeback by winning the West African nation’s presidential election after his rival Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia conceded defeat on Sunday.
Mahama, 65, previously led Ghana from 2012 until 2017, when he was replaced by Akufo-Addo and contested the Dec 7 poll on the platform of the opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Meanwhile, his main challenger and the country’s Vice-President, Bawumia has conceded defeat and congratulated Mahama on his victory.
“The people have voted for change,” said Bawumia.
Bawumia said he was basing his statement on the results according to internal tallies from his governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The elections come amidst the country’s worst economic crisis in a generation, which saw the country default on its debt.
Despite Bawumia’s concession, no official results have been declared.
He said the results showed Mahama had won “decisively”, while the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had also won the parliamentary election.
Addressing a press conference from his residence, Bawumia said he had called Mahama to congratulate him.
The Electoral Commission (EC) said results had been delayed because supporters of the two main parties were impeding the process and it had asked the police to clear the collation centres.
Mahama becomes the first President of Ghana in the current republic to be re-elected after being voted out.
The official election is expected to be released on Tuesday.
