8 January 2009
editorial
Election 2008 was decided by a razor thin margin, but enough to have a winner.
"Professor John Evans Atta Mills of National Democratic Congress (NDC) won a tight race to emerge
president of the Fifth Government of the Fourth Republic.
He won the run-off on December 28 after the first round proved inconclusive. The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan declared Prof. Atta Mills, 64, based on the following statistics arising out of the conduct of the runoff.
The following are the statistics of the election. Number of votes obtained: Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo 4,480,446=49.77%, Professor John Evans Atta Mills 4,521,032=50.23%."
The difference between the NPP's Addo-Dankwah Akufo-Addo and NDC's John Evans Atta Mills if rounded up or down to the nearest round figure would be 50% apiece.
In electoral terms, however, only one vote more is required and Professor Mills' 40,000 was more than enough, therefore, to win him the run-off on December 28 2008 and yesterday he was duly sworn in as Ghana's new President to take over from the two term John Agyekum Kufuor.
By Professor Mills' side yesterday was his youthful running mate, John Dramani Mahama, who also started in office as Ghana's Vice President. It was the end of an era - the Kufuor/NPP era - with its great achievements, failings, promises and opportunities.
The Mills/NDC era which started yesterday would no doubt also have its great achievements, failings, promises and opportunities when it runs out in four years time, but for now, all that Ghanaians are expecting is unity, development and progress.
If the new people at the helm can deliver on these, there would be no reason why Ghanaians would not renew the mandate, perhaps with a bigger margin in Election 2012.
President Mills and Vice President Mahama are generally regarded by Ghanaians as moderates within a party of coup or revolutionary antecedents and therefore expected to tread a middle course that would unite the nation.
There are fears however, that, they could be overwhelmed by the more radical elements within the party which would further alienate the other 50 of the 50-50 mandate. Should that happen, the next four years would be spent in rancor, acrimony, witch-hunts and a nation divided right in the middle.
With the non-violent elections and peaceful handover now behind her, Ghana is once more the toast of the world and with that comes the dividend in the form of more international assistance and investment.
With cocoa attracting such high international prices and the promise of oil in commercial quantities expected to flow in three to four years, Ghana could well be on course to attain the 2015 UNMDGs and her own mid-income projections around the same time.
All that is standing in the way is how the new administration can exploit the best of the nation's human resources in an all-inclusive effort towards nation building.
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