Ghana election results: Vote counting begins as new president awaits

In order to win in the first round, a presidential candidate must gain more than 50% of the vote. Failing that, the top two contenders will enter a run-off vote to take place by the end of December.

Voting for the first time, 18-year-old Serwaa Yeboah Joshebeth told the BBC “it is important for you to vote to choose the best for your country”.

The recent graduate wants to see more job opportunities, “not for me alone but for others who need them [too].”

Kojo Yeboah, 95, agrees.

“The next leader must focus on education and jobs for the youth,” the retired university worker told the BBC outside a polling booth in the city of Kumasi.

“I benefit from stipends from the state at my age already,” he adds.

As campaigns came to a close on Friday, Bawumia said of his main rival: “What is clear is that notwithstanding the challenges we’ve had, we have performed better than the government of John Dramani Mahama.”

While Mahama told supporters “it is a choice between the Ghana we have today and the Ghana we want together. A Ghana of opportunity, prosperity, and justice for all.”

Ghanaians have been hit particularly hard by inflation in recent years, which reached a peak of 54.1% in 2022. Although it has since come down, many thousands of people have been pushed into poverty and living standards have suffered, says the World Bank, external.

That same year, Ghana defaulted on its debt repayments and the government is still in lengthy negotiations with international lenders to try and restructure the loans.

Unemployment is also at a high – particularly among the young, whose views could have a big impact on the outcome of the election.

Additional reporting by Favour Nunoo in Accra and Damian Zane in London