PEKI (Ghana) (Bernama-dpa): Opposition leader John Dramani Mahama has been officially declared the winner of last weekend's presidential election in Ghana, reported German news agency dpa.
The Electoral Commission said late Monday (Dec 9) that with vote-counting complete, 66-year-old Mahama's victory was assured after he scored around 56% of the ballots cast in the West African country.
That means the election will not go to a run-off vote and Mahama is on track to take office early next year.
His main rival was Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who had already conceded defeat on Sunday (Dec 8).
This will not be Mahama's first time in the presidency. He had served as president from July 2012 to January 2017.
During the campaign, Mahama promised to fix the economy and "restart" Ghana, long hailed as a beacon of democracy on the continent.
Mahama targeted the youth vote in particular, promising to create start-up programmes designed to support young entrepreneurs as well as farmers. Of the 18.7 million registered voters in Ghana, more than 10.3 million are between 18 and 35 years old.
