VZCZCXRO3482
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #1545 3451724
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101724Z DEC 08 ZFD
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7361
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS ACCRA 001545 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM PINS GH
SUBJECT: GHANA ELECTIONS: HEADING FOR A RUNOFF DECEMBER 28 
 
 ¶1. (U)  The Electoral Commision has announced that Ghana's 
next president will be determined by a runoff election on 
December 28.  EC Chairman Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan announced the 
results of the December 7 Presidenial race at a December 10 
press conference. With all 230 constituencies reporting, the 
New Patriotic Party candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo leads with 
49.05%, with John Atta Mills of the National Democratic 
Congress following with 47.96%. Based on Mission observations 
of the election process, including observer teams in all 
regions of the country, and input from international and 
diplomatic missions, Embassy Accra believes that thus far the 
election met standards for free, fair and transparent 
polling. 
 
¶2. (U). International observers, including the Carter Center, 
the European Union and ECOWAS have issued statements 
commending the EC for a credible job of conducting elections 
that have, up to this time, met recognized standards. 
POLOFFS have met with representatives of other diplomatic 
missions which fielded observer teams, including Australia, 
Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the UK, all of whom found 
the election process to be credible and without significant 
difficulties. 
 
¶3. (U)  While the US Mission had urged Washington to hold off 
on comments regarding the nature of the election, we feel 
that it is now safe to announce that the first round of 
elections was free, fair and transparent.  There are still a 
few disputed constituencies that will have to be resolved 
through the High Court in the upcoming weeks, but those do 
not in any way cast doubt on the overall conduct of the 
election, which has reflected the will of the Ghanaian 
people.  The Electoral Commission should be commended for its 
work. 
 
¶4. (U) Two hours after the EC announced its results, the US 
Mission-sponsored Coalition of Domestic Election Observers 
(CODEO) announced the results of its Parallel Vote Tally 
(PVT), which was uncannily close to the final result 
announced by the EC.  They had forecast 49.8 percent for 
Akufo-Addo (actual 49.1), 47.4 percent for Atta-Mills (actual 
47.9), and 1.4 percent for the Convention Peoples Party 
candidate Papa Kwesi Nduom (his exact count).  Their results 
add a welcome shot of credibility to the EC's announcement. 
 
¶5. (U)  Pressure and tension will inevitably rise when 
campaigning gets back under way as we count down to the 
December 28 runoff.  Both parties can be expected to pull out 
all of the stops in an effort to get out the vote.  The 
country has now had a good dress rehearsal, but it was spared 
the trauma of a final outcome.  The performance of the EC, 
security forces, and the media should have instilled some 
confidence in the Ghanaian populace, and we expect peace once 
again to prevail.  Next time around, however, there will be a 
loser, and we already know that a large percentage of voters 
will share in that loss.  How they cope with their grief will 
be the true test of Ghanaian democracy. 
TEITELBAUM