Mills Concedes Defeat

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) - Ghana's vice president has conceded defeat to an opposition leader in the country's presidential election, signaling an orderly transition after a vote notable as much for the way it was held as for its result.

John Atta Mills issued a statement Friday saying it was clear that John Agyekum Kuffuor had won Thursday's vote to succeed President Jerry Rawlings, a former dictator who dominated politics in Ghana for two decades.

Mills congratulated Kuffuor. ``As an outgoing government, we pledge to make his transition into office as smooth as possible,'' he said.

The election itself, and Mills' peaceful concession, mark a rare commitment to democratic change in West Africa, a region characterized by repressive leaders and flawed elections.

Kuffuor, a British-trained lawyer and longtime politician, thanked Mills for his ``graciousness'' and pledged to cooperate with his National Democratic Congress. And U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), a Ghana native, commended the country's leaders and voters for ``the transparent and peaceful manner in which the elections were conducted.''

``With these elections, Ghana has demonstrated that democracy and its institutions continue to take root in Africa,'' he said in a statement read by deputy U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva.

There were scattered clashes and accusations of intimidation during the election. Opposition observers said they had been harassed by government supporters, who prevented them from monitoring voting at some polling stations in the capital, Accra, the nearby port city of Tema and the eastern Volta Region.



In other parts of Ghana, however, balloting went smoothly.

Election officials said 57.7 percent of the West African nation's nearly 11 million registered voters cast ballots. With votes counted in 194 of 200 districts, Kuffuor had 57 percent support, compared to 43 percent for Mills, Rawlings' chosen successor.

The vote marked the end of an era for Ghana, where Rawlings is scheduled to step down Jan. 7. The charismatic former fighter pilot won multiparty elections in 1992 and 1996, but the constitution he approved barred him from running again.

Originally a brutal military dictator, Rawlings embraced democratic and free-market ideals in the 1990s and became a darling of Western donors. But his overwhelming popularity at home has dimmed in recent years with the decline of the country's once-thriving economy. Prices for Ghana's chief exports, cocoa and gold, plummeted as oil prices rose.

Kuffuor, 62, campaigned on a platform of ``positive change,'' calling attention to repeated accusations of corruption and human rights abuses against Rawlings' government.

Thursday's runoff vote was necessary because no candidate won outright with more than 50 percent in the first round of voting on Dec. 7. Kuffuor got 48.4 percent; Mills 44.8 percent.

Five other candidates who together took only a small percentage of the first-round vote endorsed Kuffuor in the runoff.