Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s President John Mahama conceded defeat Friday two days after a hotly contested election, seen as a test for a country generally viewed as a beacon of stability in west Africa. Mahama called to congratulate opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo, whose supporters had already gathered outside …
Read More »GHANA: President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo
Ghana President Mahama concedes defeat Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s President John Mahama called opposition Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday to concede defeat and congratulate him on victory in the country’s hotly contested election, a party official said. “Yes he has conceded defeat,” George Lawson of Mahama’s New Democratic Congress …
Read More »Ghana opposition celebrates as media projects vote win
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Opposition challenger Nana Akufo-Addo has a clear lead in Ghana’s hotly contested presidential election, local media reported Friday, although official results have yet to be released two days after the vote. And supporters of incumbent President John Mahama insisted he had emerged triumphant again, despite …
Read More »Why did Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh concede defeat?
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has ruthlessly pursued opponents real and imaginary, and implied more than once that he would kill anyone who defied him. His magnanimous concession speech and promise of a swift handover to president-elect Adama Barrow after 22 years in power has therefore …
Read More »Five things to know about Ghana
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana is a resource-rich west African country where worries about the economy are set to dominate Wednesday’s presidential election. Major producer of cocoa, gold Ghana is the world’s second biggest producer of cocoa after Ivory Coast and Africa’s second biggest gold producer after South Africa. …
Read More »Gambia election recount awards Barrow slimmer win
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia’s shock election result awarded president-elect Adama Barrow extra votes by mistake but a recount showed he still won outright, the country’s electoral commission told AFP Tuesday. Alieu Momar Njie, chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, said correct counting on the spot in one …
Read More »Why Jammeh lost: Gambian leader’s downfall in five points
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | President Yahya Jammeh scored only half his previous box office tally in last week’s election, handing victory to opposition coalition leader Adama Barrow. But why did Gambians turn against Jammeh after 22 years in power? Economic crisis A triple blow has been dealt to the …
Read More »Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s veteran runner-up
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo is hoping it’ll be third time lucky when the country votes for a new president on December 7. Akufo-Addo, an erudite rights lawyer and former government minister with round tortoiseshell glasses, narrowly lost the 2008 and …
Read More »Ghana election: what you need to know
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Two old foes are stepping back into the ring to fight in Ghana’s hotly contested presidential election on December 7. This is the second time that President John Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) faces off against Nana Akufo-Addo, leader of the New …
Read More »Yahya Jammeh: devout and erratic leader of The Gambia
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who was defeated in this week’s poll, seized power in a 1994 coup and clung to office for 22 years with a blend of severity, mysticism and iron-clad self-belief. “No matter what people say about me, I am not moved… I …
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