In Ghana: Akufo-Addo wins presidential election, defeats incumbent president

Akufo-Addo, pictured with his wife Rebecca, was making his third bid for the top job [Reuters]

Ghana’s main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo won the country’s national election, defeating President John Mahama, electoral commissioner Charlotte Osei said.

Crowds of jubilant supporters gathered outside the house of the 72-year-old New Patriotic Party (NPP) leader, who had already claimed victory on Thursday, a day after the voting took place.

Akufo-Addo defeated President Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent, Osei said.

“It is my duty and my privilege to declare Nana Akufo-Addo as the president elect of Ghana,” she told a news conference in the capital, Accra, on Friday.

Prior to Osei’s announcement, Akufo-Addo said on Twitter that Mahama called him “congratulating me on winning the 2016 presidential election”.

“I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down. I will do all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations,” Akufo-Addo told supporters in front of his residence.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Akufo-Addo explained what he believed to be the hopes and expectations of Ghanians: “The expectations they have of me, that I’m gonna bring them a new government, a new style; a government of honesty, a government that is concerned about the welfare of our people – that basic commitment is the one I am determined to fulfill.”

Meanwhile, Akufo-Addo took to Twitter to celebrate his win, using APC’s quite popular slogan “Change”