The rejection of the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections by presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama and the congratulatory messages by Nigerian and the US on the victory of President Nana Akufo-Addo are the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Graphic reports that the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama says that he is unwilling to accept the “fictionalized” results of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).
In an address on Thursday night, December 10, 2020, he accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of manipulating the elections results.
“We will not accept anything short of a declaration of the legitimate results which points to an NDC Parliamentary majority,” Mr. Mahama said.
He said there was no “doubt Ghanaians from every region of this great nation of ours, voted for change, and we did so in both the presidential and parliamentary elections. I’m a staunch believer and experiment of democracy, a system of governance that allows the ultimate decision making power to rest in the hands of you, the good people of Ghana.”
Mr. Mahama, who was publicly speaking for the first time after the Electoral Commission declared the results of the December 7, 2020 elections on Wednesday said: “the sacred verdict of the people must be respected, it must be protected, it has been my pledge throughout my time of service as a representative to the good people of Ghana to do exactly that.”
Mr Mahama was not emphatic on whether or not he will be proceeding to court to challenge the declaration of the results by the EC.
He rather said: “Finally, let me assure our teeming supporters and millions of Ghanaians who voted for this change, which has been stolen – the real stolen verdict – that we are beefing up capacity in the constituencies, where the ruling NPP is seeking to overturn our Parliamentary victories already chalked.”
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for winning a second to govern Ghana for the next four years.
In a tweet, Buhari wrote: ” I congratulate President Akufo-Addo on his re-election for a second term in office. I also commend the people of Ghana on the successful conclusion of the presidential and parliamentary elections – further proof that constitutional democracy has come to stay in West Africa.”
President Buhari added: “Nigeria and Ghana share close historical and cultural ties and I look forward to working with President Akufo-Addo to realise our shared goals of peace, security and prosperity for our citizens and the entire ECOWAS community.”
“On behalf of the Government and People of Nigeria, I wish President Akufo-Addo a successful new tenure, and peace and stability in his country, as well as improved relations between our countries.
The Graphic also reports that the United States Government has congratulated Ghana for a successful presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7, 2020.
In a congratulatory statement, the US Government said it was looking forward to continuing its strong partnership with Ghana.
“The U.S. congratulates Ghana on its successful elections on Dec. 7 and President Akufo-Addo on his reelection. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Ghana, a shining example of democracy, in which any electoral disputes would be resolved through legal channels,” it said.
The newspaper also says that the Electoral Commission (EC) has confirmed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has won 137 Parliamentary seats as against 136 by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) out of the total 274 seats declared as of now.
The EC in a press release said the results for the Sene West Parliamentary in the Bono East Region was outstanding, while the Fomena seat was won by Independent candidate, Mr. Andrew Amoako Asiamah.
The outstanding Sene West seat was contested by three candidates in Monday’s election.
They are the incumbent Kwame Ampofo Twumasi of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joseph Kumah Mackay of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Caesar Fomekah of the National Democratic Party.
The Times reports that the Electoral Commission (EC) has corrected the total valid votes put out during the declaration of 2020 presidential election results, on December 9.
The EC Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensa declared the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the President-elect based on a total of 13,433,573 valid voters instead of 13,119,460.
In a statement issued in Accra yesterday, the EC Chairperson explained that the initial figure (13,433,573) used, led to her declaration of 6,730, 587 for the NPP which is 51.302%.
Mrs. Mensa made this revelation after concerns were raised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over inconsistencies in the numbers.
“The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission inadvertently used 13,433,573 as the total valid votes cast. The total valid votes cast is 13,119, 460,” the EC stated.
Mrs Mensa, however, indicated that the change of the total valid votes cast would not affect the percentage stated for each candidate.
The newspaper says that only 958 businesses across Ghana are said to be aware of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which is expected to start on January 1, 2021, findings from the second wave of COVID-19 Business Tracker Survey has revealed.
This represented 26.2 percent of firms interviewed between August 15 and September 20 this year by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.
A total of 3,658 from the initial 4,311 firms from the first Business Tracker were re-interviewed to provide critical information to help the government, development partners and other organisations monitor the effects of the pandemic.
The Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Annim said this on Thursday at a press conference held in Accra.
He said the awareness of AfCFTA was more among the medium and large firms, which represented 63.8 and 72.7 respectively, while within the small and micro firms only 26.2 and 24.9 percent were in the know of it.
According the Prof. Annim, though awareness of AfCFTA was low, 76 percent of the businesses believed the implementation of it would bring transformation to their businesses .
GIK/APA