The New Patriotic Party, the Ghanaian opposition party whose candidate lost to incumbent President John Dramani Mahama in presidential elections held last Friday, said this week it plans to challenge the results of the poll.
While international observers deemed the elections free and fair, the opposition insists the ruling party rigged the vote. This has led to fears that the opposition’s failure to concede defeat could destabilize one of West Africa’s secure democracies.
“What this election means for Ghanaian democracy depends largely on whether the NPP is able to provide hard evidence to back up its allegations of deliberate electoral fraud,” Rod Alence, associate professor at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, told Trend Lines. “If it cannot, despite the transparency of the electoral procedures, the whole episode could ultimately enhance the Electoral Commission’s reputation, as the public could become better informed about the safeguards that are in place.”