Certified Presidential results from the National Collation Centre at the Electoral Commission has put John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress(NDC) in the lead in eight out of ten regions.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) won the elections in two regions-North East and Eastern Regions.
Mahama won in the Ahafo, Western North, Oti, Central, Volta, Upper West, Bono and Bono East Regions.
Results
In the Ahafo Region,Mahama polled 130,106 votes against Bawumia's 113,851. In the Western North, Mahama got 202,689 votes as against Bawumia's 124,024 votes. In the Oti Region, Mahama took the lead with 182, 470 votes and Bawumia had 86,489 votes. In the Central Region the situation was not different as Mahama got 562,620 votes and Bawumia 382, 749 votes.
In the Volta Region Mahama had 584, 234 votes while Bawumia got 56,699 votes. Then in the Upper West Region, Mahama came up with 242,852 votes while Bawumia got 89,906 votes.
In the Bono Region, Mahama got 235,681 votes while Bawumia got 192,773 votes. In the Bono East Region the results were as follows: Mahama-216,691 votes against 124,811 votes for Bawumia.
In the North East Region, Bawumia polled 134,800 votes as against Mahama’s 111,051. In the Eastern Region, Bawumia got 493, 234 votes against 453,234 for Mahama.
Concede defeat
But even before the EC started releasing the results it had received so far, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in a press conference on Sunday morning conceded defeat and congratulated the former President for winning the 2024 elections.
“Let me say that the data from our own internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the Presidential election decisively. The NDC has also won the parliamentary election even though we await final collation of a number of seats. I believe ultimately these will not change the outcome.”
Dr Bawumia explained that he has called Mr Mahama to congratulate him as President-elect of the Republic of Ghana.
“I said during the signing of the Peace Pact that I was sure of two things. Ghana will win and peace will reign. The people of Ghana have spoken. The people have voted for change at this time, and we respect that decision with all humility” Dr Bawumia further stated.
Concession speech
He said he was making the concession speech before the official announcement by the Electoral Commission to “avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country. It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana.”
These he explained are the country's most important assets adding that “Ghana is more important than our individual political ambitions and we must always put Ghana first.”
“While this was not our desired outcome, I say this is part of the democratic process. We put our best foot forward in the contest, explaining our policies and programmes. However, it is sometimes the case that the voter would have other ideas. I am proud of the efforts of our campaign team” he further observed.
He assured Mr Mahama of his full support in the transition process saying “as committed democrats, we pledge to ensure that we have a very smooth transition so that the business of government will continue seamlessly. The NPP would offer the needed support to the new government in a very responsible way.”
He pledged on behalf of the NPP not to be “a disruptive opposition, even though we would subject government actions and policies to strict scrutiny in the interest of our beloved nation.”
He said the NPP conceded defeat like any consummate Democrat would do adding that “we have not abandoned the fight to transform Ghana and expand opportunities to all sections of Ghanaian society.”
Exercise patience
Meanwhile the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, has called on Ghanaians to exercise patience while the Commission implements an elaborate process to declare credible results that will reflect the will of the people.
“I would like to ask that citizens exercise patience. The process is elaborate, it is inclusive, it involves the political parties and observers at every step and the whole idea is to ensure that what comes up at the end of the day is acceptable to all stakeholders" she explained.
Mrs Mensa made the call at the 8th in a series of press conferences to update the public on the 2024 general elections at the National Collation Centre in Accra on Sunday, December 8,2024.
The press conference was attended by both International and local observers including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO).
She attributed the delays in releasing the results at some of the Collation Centres at the Constituency and Regional levels to the besieging of its centres by some supporters of the political parties.
Anxiety, excitement
The EC Chairperson indicated that "in anxiety and in excitement some supporters of political parties have besieged our collation offices making it difficult in some cases for our officers to carry out their functions.”
She said the EC has spoken directly with leadership of the various political parties to recall their respective supporters adding that “we believe that when this is done, our staff should have an unhindered access and the free space to collate the results.”
