Voting has stopped and vote counting has started in Ghana’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
As vote counting proceeds late on Wednesday, the president, John Mahama has expressed his optimism, saying he sees good chance of winning the election.
Though clashes in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary vote have raised fears of trouble in a country viewed as a beacon of stability, Mahama said Ghana would remain a model a democracy.
“I think Ghana’s democracy has matured. This election is going to consolidate that democracy further,” he said.
Asked to comment on allegations of corruption, he said:
“There is a general perception of corruption in all African countries. I think it is a stage of our development. As we continue to strengthen the institutions of state, I think that people will come to see the integrity in these institutions.”
Results are expected from late Thursday in a tight presidential race in which Mahama’s popularity has been chipped away by criticism from his main rival, veteran politician Nana Akufo-Addo, over sluggish economic growth and high-profile corruption.
An exporter of gold, cocoa and oil, Ghana was once hailed as a regional growth model but in 2015 had to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.