Ghana’s ruling party candidate concedes presidential election to his oppn rival

Accra: Ghana’s vice president and ruling party candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat Sunday to opposition candidate and former President John Dramani Mahama in the West African nation’s presidential election seen as a vote of no-confidence in the current government’s handling of an ailing economy.

Ahead of the official announcement, Bawumia told reporters that he respects the decision of Ghanaians to vote for change.

“I’ve just called His Excellency John Mahama to congratulate him as president-elect of the Republic of Ghana,” he said at his residence in the capital, Accra.

Previously president of Ghana between July 2012 and January 2017, Mahama, 65, acknowledged the call from the ruling party candidate in a post on the X platform, describing his victory as “emphatic.”

He had promised to “reset” the country on various fronts during a campaign that largely appealed to young Ghanaians who saw the vote as a way out of the country’s economic crisis.

Celebrations broke out among the supporters of the opposition candidate in parts of the country, including the capital city.

Wearing the opposition party’s white, green, red and black colours, women and young people danced to music and trumpet blasts on the streets and at the party’s national headquarters.