Kufuor Declared Winner of Presidential Poll

Ghana's opposition standard-bearer, John Kufuor, was on Saturday declared the winner of an historic presidential election, bringing to an end two decades of rule by the charismatic Jerry Rawlings.

The National Electoral Commission said in a statement that, with one of the 200 constituencies still to report, Kufuor had won 56.73 percent of the vote against 43.27 percent for current Vice-President John Atta Mills, whom Rawlings had backed.

``We wish to congratulate Professor Mills particularly for the manner in which he has taken the loss,'' Commission Chairman Kwadwo Afari-Djan said.

``Professor Mills is a fine gentleman and it is gracious of him to have conceded defeat. That is what is expected in a democracy.''

The commission put the turnout in the second round run-off at 59.7 percent, much the same as in the first round on December 7 when just over 60 percent of the 10.6 million electors voted.

A source in the Kufuor camp told Reuters on Friday that Mills had telephoned his rival to congratulate him on his victory.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), himself a Ghanaian, paid tribute to the peaceful and transparent way in which the election had been conducted.

``With these elections, Ghana has demonstrated that democracy and its institutions continue to take root in Africa. The international community should rejoice at this orderly and democratic transfer of power,'' he said in a statement.

Kufuor's campaign manager, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, said: ``This is a victory not only for the NPP (Kufuor's New Patriotic Party) but for all Ghanaians.''

Rawlings, a fighter pilot and radical firebrand who staged two military coups before embracing political reform, steps down on January 7, respecting a two-term constitutional limit.

He has led Ghana for 19 years and dominated the West African nation since first seizing power in 1979.

Rawlings chose Mills, a 56-year old tax expert, as his running mate before he went on to defeat Kufuor and win a final four-year term in the last presidential election in 1996.

No Witchhunt In Armed Forces

Kufuor, 62, won plaudits at home and abroad when he graciously accepted defeat on that occasion. On Saturday, his NPP issued a statement calling on its supporters to be ``gracious in victory'' and Kufuor told Volta Star radio that there would be no witchhunt in the armed forces, although he said he would move to depoliticize them.

``It takes time to win people over from old beliefs,'' he told listeners to the radio, based in Ho, capital of the Volta Region and a bastion of Rawlings' National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The military was accused by the NPP of intimidation during voting on Thursday.

Kufuor's win consigns the NDC to the opposition benches and gives Ghana a first real change of power through the ballot box.

Voters, particularly young professionals and students, were hungry for change.

Although Kufuor preaches the same free-market economics as the current administration, the Rawlings government has failed to solve mounting economic problems over the last few years.

Kufuor narrowly failed to win outright in the December 7 first round, taking 48.35 percent of votes.

At the same time, his NPP broke the traditional stranglehold on power enjoyed by Rawlings's party, winning 99 of parliament's 200 seats against 92 for the NDC.