Ghana’s presidential election is a ray of hope for functioning democracy. The hotly contested poll raised tension, threatened to ruin peace but was mostly peaceful. In a show of maturity, ruling party presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo accepted defeat after the Electoral Commission declared opposition leader John Atta Mills winner.

“I acknowledge the electoral commissioner’s declaration and congratulate Professor Mills,” Akufo-Addo told a news conference. Mills got 50.23% against 49.77% for Akufo-Addo.

President Elect, Atta Mills on his part pledged to work with all parties and pleaded that Ghana should be one.

Although President Kufuor had hoped that he would be succeeded by a candidate from his own political party, he respected Ghanaians’ verdict: “As a democrat, I acknowledge Ghanaians’ decision. I, therefore, congratulate the President-Elect, Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on his election,” he said. “It is hoped that he will bring the wealth of experience garnered while in government and subsequently out of it to forge a sense of unity within the body politic, which is a sine qua non for nation building.”

That Akufo-Addo conceded defeat in the hotly contested poll is a sharp contrast to what the continent experienced in January 2008 in Kenya where post-election violence claimed over 1,000 people and destabilized the entire Eastern Africa region. In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have been in a deadlock for months over a power-sharing agreement after disputed elections. Had Ghana’s election gone wrong, it would have been blight for the whole of Africa. President Kufuor acknowledged the contribution of other Presidential candidates and challenged them to continue to contribute to the enrichment of the political discourse by offering alternative views for the development of the country.

South Africa, is likely to go to the polls in March in what analysts expect will be its most tense vote since the end of apartheid in 1994, after a power struggle split the ruling African National Congress last year. Twenty African countries including Angola, Sudan, Botswana, Malawi and Chad will hold elections this year.

It is Africa’s hope that the maturity with which Ghana’s contenders and the electoral commission handled the poll will be reflected in these elections. The polls call for independence, professionalism and seeing the bigger picture. Ghana however ought to guard against destroying the confidence she has earned by refusing to bow to pressure and interest groups at the expense of the Ghanaian people.

By Josephat Juma

The African Executive