By Paul Ejime
Before the announcement of the official results of Saturday’s presidential election, the ruling NPP candidate and Ghana’s outgoing vice-president Bawumia Mahamudu on Sunday 8th December 2024 conceded defeat to the opposition NDC candidate, former President John Mahama.
He called Mahama on the telephone to concede, saying his party’s parallel collation showed that the poll would not end in his favour. Bawumia also called for national unity.
The report on national television was greeted by spontaneous street jubilation by NDC supporters.
The Electoral Commission (EC) is still expected to announce the official results in due course.
More than 18 million registered Ghanaian voters from an estimated national population of 34 million went to poll on Saturday to elect a new President and 276-seat Parliament.
Mahama served one term as Ghana’s President but lost his bid for re-election in 2016 to the outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo.
The NPP and NDC have dominated political power in the country since its return to multiparty democracy in 1992.