OAU hails Ghana elections as fair

Addis Ababa - Voting last week in Ghana's general elections was fair, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) has said in a statement here.

The statement, released late Wednesday, said monitors present for the 7 December elections had concluded the voting process "was conducted in an orderly, calm and serene manner".

"The counting process was done in an orderly and fair manner," the statement said, adding that a few logistical incidents recorded "could not have affected the overall credibility of the electoral process".

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 99 of the 200 seats in parliament, while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of outgoing President Jerry Rawlings took 92 seats.

Independents and smaller parties won eight other seats and the remaining one seat will be contested in a by-election.

Presidential elections were also held last Thursday, but will go to a second round runoff after no candidate won an outright majority.

The OAU said it hoped the runoff, set for 28 December, between current Vice-President John Atta Mills and the NPP's John Kufuor would be conducted with the same "sense of maturity, dignity and mutual tolerance".