Bombay Durpun - Ghana opposition leader Mahama officially wins election

Mahama won 56 percent of the votes in Saturday's presidential ballot, compared to the ruling party candidate and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who secured 41 percent, the electoral commission said announcing official results.

The landslide comeback for former president Mahama ended eight years in power for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose last term was marked by Ghana's worst economic turmoil in years, an IMF bailout and a debt default.

"These eight years have witnessed some of the darkest periods of our governance," Mahama told crowds of supporters blowing horns and whistles in his party office in Accra.

"This mandate also serves as a constant reminder of what fate awaits us if we fail to meet the aspirations of our people."

Bawumia, a former central banker, had already quickly conceded defeat on Sunday, acknowledging Ghanaians wanted change after the government failed to shake off widespread frustration.

Bawumia also said the Mahama's National Democratic Congress (NDC) party had won the parliamentary vote in Saturday's election. Official results for the parliament are still being tallied.

Mahama, 66, had previously failed twice to secure the presidency, but in Saturday's election he managed to tap into expectations of change among Ghanaians.

- Back on track -

He promised to "reset" Ghana, usher in economic revival and renegotiate parts of the country's $3 billion IMF accord.

In his acceptance speech, Mahama promised reforms and "severe" measures to bring Ghana back on track.

"The journey is not going to be easy... because the outgoing government has plunged our dear nation into the abyss," he said.

"I am certain that we shall win the battle."

With a history of democratic stability, Ghana's two major parties, the NPP and NDC, have alternated in power equally since the return to multi-party politics in 1992.

But Ghana's economic woes dominated the 2024 election, after the continent's top gold producer and world's second cacao exporter went through a debt crisis, the default and currency devaluation.

Turnout for Saturday election was 60.9 percent, a slide in participation from 79 percent in the 2020 election, results showed.

With a slogan "Break the 8" -- a reference to two, four-year terms in power -- Bawumia had sought to take the NPP to an unprecedented third mandate. But he struggled to break from criticism of Akufo-Addo's economic record.

While inflation slowed from more than 50 percent to around 23 percent, and other indicators stabilised, economic concerns were still a clear election issue for most Ghanaians.

That frustration opened the way for a comeback from Mahama, who first came to the presidency in 2012 when he was serving as vice president and then President John Atta Mills died in office.

During campaigning, the former president also faced criticism from those who remember his government's own financial tribulations and especially the massive power blackouts that marred his time in office.

X.Badami--BD