About an hour and a half ago, Nana Addo, was announced as the winner of this year’s presidential race by the EC chaired by Madam Jean Mensah.
According to the EC, President, Akufo-Addo polled a total of 6,730,413 votes, representing 51.59% while his main contender, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama followed suite with 6,214,889, representing 47.36% of the total ballots cast.
READ THE FULL TEXT BELOW
To God be all the glory, great things He has done, and greater things He will do. On behalf of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, I welcome you to a significant moment in our country’s history: The Declaration of the Results of the 2020 Presidential Elections. We had aimed at delivering the results 24 hours after the Election, but as the saying goes, man proposes, but God disposes.
We encountered a few challenges, including unexpected rains which halted voting in some polling stations leading to a few delays coupled with the usual requests for recounting in some polling stations. We regret the anxiety caused and ask that you bear with us. We hope that in subsequent elections we will be able to live up to our timeline. I indicate that this is a historic election because this is the first time that the Election day went by without major incidents and occurrences. It is no wonder that the BBC described this year’s election as “boring” – a testament to the seamless, incident-free process that we witnessed yesterday.
As a Commission, we thank the Almighty God for his faithfulness and for how far he has brought us. We recognize without a shadow of doubt, that we could not have come this far without Him. As Proverbs 21:31 states- “A horse is prepared for battle, but victory comes from God.” We remain eternally grateful and thankful to God for the victories he has wrought on our behalf.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is heartwarming to stand before you today to declare the results of the 2020 General Election. We have come far. We started this year with hope and promise – poised to reform and overhaul the core and critical aspects of our work, and the very system on which credible, transparent elections are hinged. Here, I am referring to our Biometric Voter Management System. We subjected this process to a robust and rigorous procurement process, even then as, from the very onset, we faced stiff opposition from within and without.
As if that was not enough, we were hit by the COVID-19 when we least expected it. In the face of this, we remained resolute, determined to deliver credible, transparent and peaceful elections in Ghana. We persevered throughout the lockdown to establish strong and efficient systems and processes that would stand the test of time.
With hindsight, we used the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown to our benefit. We were able to reflect on our policies, systems and structures, and to implement reforms within our institution, promoting competitive procurement processes, as well as efficient, transparent electoral processes.
This strategy involved our entire staff, who all worked tirelessly behind the scenes, burning the midnight oil to achieve the results we witness today. Our mantra was that while the country may be on lockdown, as a Commission, we had to keep moving forward to achieve the enormous tasks ahead of us.
And so distinguished ladies and gentlemen, here we are today. The results are evident for all to see. Indeed, hard work, determination and focus, coupled with God’s grace has paid off.
Today we have succeeded in reforming our entire Biometric Voter Management System, procuring and deploying robust equipment and devices including the Biometric Verification Devices, the biometric registration kits, a user-friendly software to govern the entire Biometric voter registration and verification system, and a brand-new data center amongst others – all of which went through an international competitive tendering process.
Today, we can all be proud of a brand-new Biometric Voter Register that reflects unique individuals who are eligible to vote. With determination and focus, we were able to prepare a Register that recorded seventeen million and twenty-seven thousand, six hundred and forty-one (17,027,641) eligible voters in just 38 days in the rainy season of Ghana. Thankfully, the just ended election did not witness issues of missing names, misplacement of polling stations among others.
Again, we can be proud of the fact that for the first time in our history, the election was funded without donor assistance. I can assure you that we put our resources to prudent use.
Furthermore, we can be proud of the fact that more than 95% of our procurement for the 2020 Election was done through an open, competitive tender process as opposed to sole sourcing and restricted tendering as was the case in the past. This no doubt ensured value for money in all our processes. At the right time, the Commission will share with you a report on its procurement processes and savings made to date.
