Ghana opposition leader wins presidential election

Ghana's main opposition leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, has won the west African country's presidential election with an absolute majority over President John Mahama, two influential private radio stations said on Friday. In his first comment since the election, Mahama said on Twitter on Friday he would wait for official results, in a seemingly softer tone from Thursday when a senior member of his National Democratic Congress (NDC)camp said Mahama was ahead. "Let's allow EC (Electoral Commission) to carry out its constitutional mandate. We'll make Ghana proud no matter outcome" of the election, he said in a tweet on his official account. Ghana's record of peaceful elections since 1992 and regular changes of government through the ballot box stands as a beacon in a region that has seen a series of civil wars and coups. Mahama fought the election against the backdrop of an economy that has slowed since he took power in 2013, in part because of lower global prices for the West African country's exports of gold, oil and cocoa. Joy FM radio and Citi FM based their projections on results from Wednesday's election given at the constituency level ahead of an official final tally that the electoral commissioner said would likely be announced by Saturday. Joy FM's website showed Akufo-Addo winning with 53 percent of the vote and Mahama on 45.2 percent, based on a count of 218 constituencies out of 275 in total. Citi FM gave Akufo-Addo 54.8 percent based on 190 constituencies. Read more