Firecrackers, Prayers Greet NPP Victory

[Pictures fron Joy Online]

Firecrackers and prayers Saturday greeted victory by Ghana's opposition candidate John Kufuor in landmark presidential elections bringing an end to the era of longtime ruler Jerry Rawlings.



At the news of Kufuor's decisive 57 to 43 percent victory over incumbent Vice President John Atta Mills in the Thursday vote, spontaneous celebrations broke out around the country, including in areas formerly dominated by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In conceding defeat late Friday, Atta Mills offered his full cooperation in the transition to a new government, the country's first transfer of power from one duly elected president to another since independence in 1957.
Kufuor praised Atta Mills for his graciousness and said the offer was a "true reflection of Professor Mills' commitment to the best interests of the country" and showed that Ghana was "maturing as a democratic nation."



In Accra, firecrackers erupted as people took to the streets waving flags, and minibuses could be seen circulating, with horns blaring and daredevils hanging out open doors shouting slogans.

In Kumasi, heartland of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), celebrations began well before Atta Mills' late-night concession, with street parties and firecrackers as pubs filled with merrymakers praying and swaying to gospel music, Joy FM reported.

Many voters, both NDC and NPP supporters, said they were praying for a successful transition after widespread fears that violence or repression would ruin the democratic exercise.



"We are all praying for peace," an NPP supporter said.

In the remote north of the country -- a former NDC stronghold where swing voters added weight to Kufuor's victory -- a radio correspondent reported that opposition and ruling party supporters were celebrating side by side what he described as a "victory for Ghanaians."

He added that "bicycle bells are ringing" along with blaring car horns.

The west African country's economic doldrums were a major factor in the opposition victory, with voters hoping for a remedy to unemployment, high inflation and a weakening currency.

While the NDC government has been held to account for corruption and financial mismanagement, many also voted to reject the Rawlings legacy of human rights abuses during his 19 years in power, especially as military strongman from 1981 to 1992.



Kufuor will preside over a parliament whose makeup was radically changed in legislative elections three weeks ago, when the NPP clinched 99 of the 200 seats and the NDC saw its comfortable majority disappear as it held on to only 92 seats from its previous total of 133.

"Ghanaians have waited for this for decades," analyst Emmanuel Aning told AFP early Saturday.

"Ghana had been brought back into a neocolonial state, turned into a beggar nation, lost its national pride," said Aning, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a public policy think tank.

He warned, however: "This honeymoon is not going to last. You cannot transform the lifestyles of people within even three years, so it is critical that you tell people the truth."

Aning praised the role of the media in helping to minimize disruptions to the December 7 and 28 polling, but said their next job would be "to act as a more credible opposition" than the NDC is likely to be in the months and years to come.