Opposition Ahead in Ghana Election

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) - An opposition leader appeared to be ahead in Ghana's presidential election Saturday, a race that will end the rule of the country's longest-serving president.

With ballots counted in 135 of 200 constituencies, opposition leader John Agyekum Kuffuor had 51 percent of Thursday's vote, compared to 43 percent for Vice President John Atta Mills, the favored successor of President Jerry Rawlings. Five other candidates had small percentages of the vote.

Kuffuor's New Patriotic Party also gained ground in the parliamentary vote, taking seats from five current government ministers and two deputy ministers of the ruling National Democratic Congress.

Rawlings, a charismatic former fighter pilot, has been the public face of this West African nation for two decades. He staged two coups, the first in 1979, and led a brutal military government before embracing democratic ideals in the 1990s. He is constitutionally barred from seeking another four-year term.

Despite Rawlings' support, Mills' chances have been hurt by a sharp economic decline. Ghana's once-thriving economy has been hit in recent years by plummeting international prices for its major exports, cocoa and gold, and by oil price hikes.

Kuffuor, a British-trained lawyer who came in second in presidential elections four years ago, has campaigned on a platform of ``positive change.'' He argues that power has remained too long in the hands of a regime that, despite its popularity, also faces regular accusations of corruption and human rights abuses.

Clashes broke out Friday between Kuffuor and Mills supporters in Ghana's Upper East region, Regional Minister David Osei-Wususaid said. At least seven people were killed, hospital officials said Saturday.

Houses were set on fire and property was destroyed in the violence triggered by an electoral official's refusal to count the contents of four ballot boxes, which arrived at a collation center without an official escort.

Soldiers were deployed to the area and a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed in the northeastern town of Bawku. By Saturday, calm had been restored.

Nearly 11 million voters were registered for Thursday's poll, but turnout figures were not immediately announced. If no candidate gets the 50 percent needed for an outright win, a runoff election will be held within three weeks.

Ghana has been ruled by five military regimes since achieving independence from Britain in 1957, but has evolved under Rawlings into a multiparty democracy with a flourishing independent press.

Rawlings is to hand over power on Jan. 7.