PRESIDENT KUFUOR AND NPP LEADING IN GHANA'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 002390 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: GH PGOV SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KUFUOR AND NPP LEADING IN GHANA'S ELECTION REF: A. A) ACCRA 7444 B) ACCRA 2366 ¶B. C) ACCRA 2367 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: As of 4:30 pm December 8, with slightly over half the constituency results reported, President Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party is in the lead in Ghana's December 7 election. The CPP presidential candidate has conceded defeat. So far, the NPP has also done well in the parliamentary election. The Electoral Commission has not yet announced final results and may not complete its tally until December 9. Some of the alleged incidents of violence we reported ref A turned out to be false rumors. The EC Chairman estimates voter turnout may be over 80 percent. End summary. The Results So Far -------------- ¶2. (U) Ghana's next president needs 50 percent of the popular vote, plus one vote, to win. As of 4:30 pm local time, JoyFM radio station offered the following results, based on counting at 141 of a total of 230 constituencies. (Note: The Electoral Commission is certifying constituencies very slowly. EC Chairman Afari-Gyan told PolChief on December 8 that media reports of election results are very accurate because they get results from the collation centers. The EC will not likely have final results until December 9. End note.) Presidential -------------- Candidate Percentage Vote John Kufuor (NPP) 55.1 John Evans Atta Mills (NDC) 42.52 Edward Mahama (PNC) 1.58 George Aggudey (CPP) 0.77 Parliamentary -------------- (141 of total 230 seats contested) Party Number of Seats Won As of 4:30 pm NPP 87 NDC 50 PNC 3 CPP 1 Others Incidents of Violence -------------- ¶3. (U) EC Chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan told PolChief there was not as much violence in this election as he feared. There were isolated cases of minor violence on December 7. Near Tamale in Northern Region, motorcyclists began shooting near a polling station. Locals burned their motorcycles and detained them in the house of a chief until police arrived and arrested two of them. There were minor scuffles in isolated polling stations, including in a hotly contested seat in Ashanti region. Electoral officials were pelted with stones in one Brong Ahafo collation center and were rescued by police. ¶4. (SBU) We have only been able to confirm with some certainty two incidents of significant violence in the December 7 election. Our observers in Tamale confirmed with local police that an NPP and an NDC activist were killed when an NPP party worker shot an NDC worker at a polling station and then was beaten to death by another NPP supporter. As reported reftel, in Bawku (Upper East region) gunshots disrupted voting when a member of parliament initially could not find her name on the voting register. According to GTV (confirmed by the EC Chairman),one soldier was injured. The night before the election, there was an election-related shooting in Volta region. ¶5. (SBU) There were many unsubstantiated rumors of violence. The police commander in Dzodze, Volta Region, told one of our observers that the radio story reporting that the Regional Minister's bodyguard had killed two people was a false rumor. He also discounted information which we heard from the UNDP that an NDC activist had shot and killed someone in Volta region. He noted that one person with a bandage said he had been shot by the NPP but was only hit by a sharp object. ¶6. (SBU) Security forces intervened on occasion to prevent possible violence. In Tamale, one observer witnessed police round up six men who allegedly were plotting to steal ballot boxes, armed with a sword and hand tools One observer in Volta region confirmed that police in the area intervened to stop some armed NDC supporters who wanted to disrupt voting. According to the local police commander, security forces also averted some possible election-related violence at the Ghana/Togo border. Generally Free and Fair Process and High Turnout -------------- --- ¶7. (SBU) We continued to hear reports of some minor irregularities, like ballot boxes which disappeared after counting and lapses in voting materials. Other foreign observers (although not our observers) reported numerous irregularities at the collation centers, where ballot boxes were taken after counting, including missing ballot box seals and recounting without the presence of party agents. ¶8. (SBU) While there are no voter turnout statistics yet, the EC Chairman estimated turnout at over 80 percent nationwide. Media and other local commentators widely praised the election as generally free and fair and indicative of deepening maturity in Ghana's democracy. One NDC supporter remarked to PolChief after the election that "Ghana is the winner. We have matured." The EC Chairman told PolChief his "prayers had been heard" in running a smooth election, especially given the massive task of deploying 100,000 EC volunteers in 21,000 polling stations. Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) At this point, it appears that Kufuor will win, with strong showings in swing areas of Central and Western regions, as well as Ashanti and Eastern regions. Compared to the first round of voting in 2000 (which featured seven candidates instead of four),Kufuor is so far polling better (he won 48.17 percent of the vote in 2000) and Mills is doing worse (he polled 44.5 percent last time). However, many constituencies have not yet reported results, including about half of the constituencies in the NDC strongholds of Volta and Northern regions. Although not without some problems, this election was truly impressive. Ghanaians were determined to have a good election, as evidenced in the very high turnout and the generally positive, peaceful atmosphere on election day. Despite concerns prior to the election, the voter register appeared reasonably complete. Afari-Gyan has no doubt that the losing presidential candidate will concede defeat peacefully, although this remains to be seen. A number of parliamentary candidates, as well as CPP leader George Aggudey, have already conceded defeat. We cannot discount further incidents of violence as the results continue to come out. YATES