The commendation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the conduct of a peaceful election by Ghana on Monday, December 7 is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has commended Ghana for the conduct of a peaceful election on Monday, December 7.
A joint statement issued by ECOWAS, African Union and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) also urged political stakeholders and citizens to exercise patience and remain calm even as the Electoral Commission was yet to announce the final official results.
The statement also urged the two leading political parties; NPP and NDC, to respect the spirit and letter of the Peace Pact they signed on December 4 and ensure that the peace of the country was preserved.
“Furthermore, we appeal to political parties and their followers to refrain from any conduct that may undermine the successful conclusion of the electoral process. We also call on state institutions to continue to carry out their responsibilities with professionalism and transparency,” it added.
The newspaper says that the Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama, says he has not congratulated any person for winning the 2020 presidential election.
“I want to state categorically and firmly, that I have not congratulated any person. And no attempt should be made to steal this election, we will resist it,” Mahama said.
Mahama said at a news press briefing on Tuesday night, December 8, 2020, that “We thank the Ghanaian people for the confidence they’ve expressed in us and it is clear the Ghanaian people want a change in this country.
“Ghanaians are tired of Akufo-Addo and his government. We thank the electorate for giving us a working majority in Parliament, 140 seats in Parliament, which is a majority and no attempt should be made to subvert that.
“I have looked at the results we’ve collated so far and I’m excited and I’m happy with the results and we’ve won in 10 regions out of 16 and the Ghanaian people have expressed confidence in us and we will resist any attempt to subvert the will of the people.”
Mr. Mahama said some of the things that are happening is “unacceptable and Nana Akufo-Addo continues to show credentials that are very undemocratic, you cannot use the military to try and overturn the results in constituencies that we have won.”
The Graphic also says that the Electoral Commission late on Tuesday night said it was waiting to receive collation of results from two remaining regions to enable it declare the presidential election results.
In a statement it issued apologizing for its inability to declare the elections results by 5pm as it had previously promised, the Commission said it has so far received collated results from 14 regions and is working with agents of political parties at its national collation centre at its head office to complete the exercise.
The EC consequently called on the public to remain calm as the political party agents are reviewing all results prior to certification by the Chairperson of the Commission, who is the returning officer for the presidential election.
It said it intends to publish all the results on its website.
This comes to inform the General Public that the Commission is still receiving results from the Regional Collation Centres. Currently, the Commission has received fourteen (14) results from the Regional Collation Centres with two outstanding. The Commission is working with Agents of Political Parties at the National Collation Centre at the Head Office of the Commission.
The agents are reviewing all results, prior to certification by the Chairperson of the Commission, who is the Returning Officer for the Presidential Election.
The Commission urges the General Public to remain calm. The Commission intends to post all certified presidential results on its website.
The Times reports that the Institute for Energy Security, IES, is predicting a 3– 5 percent increase in both petrol and diesel prices at the pumps within the first 2 weeks of December, which makes up the first pricing window of the month.
The energy think tank attributes the expected jump in fuel prices to a number of factors, including optimism around the development of effective COVID-19 vaccines, a loosening of restrictions in parts of Europe as well as the hopes of an extension of the period for production cuts by OPEC-plus countries to at least the first quarter of 2021.
The above development have pushed Brent crude oil price to around $ 48 dollars, its highest level since March this year.
Fritz Moses is a research analyst with IES and he has been speaking to Citi Business news on their analysis on fuel prices for the next two weeks.
“Over the last two weeks we have seen prices of Brent crude rising on the international market as a result of the developments around the vaccine, the US elections as well as expected production cuts by OPEC+ countries.”
GIK/APA