Ghana votes as president Mahama seeks a final term

Ghana voted on Wednesday in what looks set to be a tight race as President John Mahama seeks a second and final term against the backdrop of a West African economy that has slowed since he took power.

Lower global prices for Ghana’s gold, oil and cocoa exports and a fiscal crisis caused the slowdown and it has made Mahama’s government vulnerable to the challenge from the main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo.

His New Patriotic Party says the government has mismanaged national finances, not least revenue from oil from an offshore field operated by British company Tullow that began to flow in 2010.

The government says it has improved infrastructure and urges voters to stick with it despite tough economic times. It says growth will return to above 8 percent in 2017 as new oil and gas from Tullow and ENI fields comes onstream.

Ghana is a beacon of democracy in West Africa with a history of peaceful elections. The government of the day has lost power twice since 2000.

Akufo-Addo, a former foreign minister, voted in his home town of Kibi in the Eastern region surrounded by supporters.

“It is my hope and my prayer for victory for myself and my party,” he said, adding he was satisfied with voting so far.

For years, Ghana was one of Africa’s most dynamic economies and a hot investment destination but it hit the buffers in 2014 due to the commodities slump and a fiscal crisis that featured a spike in the budget deficit and elevated inflation.

The government is following a $918 million International Monetary Fund programme to restore fiscal balance.

Lower gold prices is one reason why AngloGold Ashanti effectively mothballed its industrial mine 2014 in Ghana. Costs for accessing the Obuasi mine’s large remaining reserves became unsustainable and no date has been set to reopen it. Newmont also operates a major Ghana mine.

Most analysts predict a close race for the presidency and there have been few polls. Daily Dispatch newspaper pollster Ben Ephson forecast that Mahama would win with 52 percent.

Some 15.7 million people are registered to vote and election officials say turnout could reach a record 80 percent. Some voters queued overnight to cast their ballots.

“I needed to register the strong feeling I have about this country with my thumb and the least I could do was to sacrifice sleep,” said Comfort Laryea, 78, in the capital’s Teshie suburb.

Ghana uses a biometric voting system and has multiple voting lists but there are few signs of major logistical problems.

There are 275 parliamentary seats being contested. Seven people are vying for the presidency, and a second round will follow if no one wins a majority.