2016 Ghanaian Presidential Election - Ghana's opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo Wins

Ghana's Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has won Wednesday Dec 07,2016s tightly contested presidential election. 

Ghana's Electoral Commission declared Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo the winner, with 53.85% of the votes, while Incumbent President John Mahama took 44.40%. Turnout was at 68.62%

Incumbent President John Mahama called Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo to admit defeat, a spokesman for his party said, as the Electoral Commission announced the result.

Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has promised free high-school education and more factories but critics have questioned the viability of his ambitions.

Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo , from the New Patriotic Party, won the election on his third attempt to reach the presidency, after a campaign dominated by the country's faltering economy.

"I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down," he told a jubilant crowd in front of his residence.

"I will do all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations."

Nana Akufo-Addo

• 72 years-old
• Human rights lawyer
• Campaigned for a return to multi-party democracy under military rule
• A former justice and foreign minister in the NPP government from 2001 to 2007, he is running for president for a third time
• Main promise: Build a factory in each of Ghana's more than 200 districts

 In the previous election in 2012, John Mahama, from the National Democratic Congress, defeated Nana Akufo-Addo by less than 300,000 votes.

Ghana has been a multi-party democracy since the end of military rule in 1992 and this result is seen as reinforcing its reputation for the peaceful transfer of power between administrations.