VZCZCXYZ0041
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAR #1616 3651005
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY TEXT ADX: 143750 MSI4447 TMC)
P 301005Z DEC 08 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7441
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ACCRA 001616 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR AF/W 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (ADDING CAPTION) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: GH KDEM PGOV PHUM PINS PREL
SUBJECT: A/S FRAZER MEETS WITH CANDIDATES 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Assistant Secretary of State for African 
Affairs Jendayi Frazer met with presidential candidates Nana 
Akufo-Addo of the NPP and John Atta-Mills of the NDC on 
December 27, one day before the Ghana's runoff election.  At 
 
each meeting, she underlined the need for both candidates and 
their parties to accept the results of the election if it was 
shown to be free, fair and transparent, and to exercise their 
leadership by reining in any excesses by party rank and file. 
 She reminded them of Ghana's heritage of peace and stability 
and urged both parties that losing a country was not worth 
winning an election.  On the same day, she also met with 
President Kufuor, former President Rawlings, and the Chairman 
of the Electoral Commission  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU) A/S Frazer spoke at length with both presidential 
candidates on December 27, reaffirming US neutrality in the 
Ghanaian runoff elections and urging them to respect the will 
of the people, to refrain from incendiary comments or 
premature predictions until the Electoral Commission had 
announced results, and to exercise their leadership roles in 
keeping their supporters in line in the event that party 
loyalists decide to express their displeasure on the streets. 
 She emphasized the importance of accommodation and 
cooperation in the new Ghanaian political paradigm, in which 
no party holds a firm majority in Parliament.  She told both 
parties that they would continue to have a close friend and 
ally in the United States, and that the US desires to 
strengthen the bilateral relationship, no matter who wins the 
election. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  She reminded both candidates that Ghana remains a 
beacon of hope on a continent where civil strife and war have 
taken a huge toll, saying that no election is worth the price 
of risking Ghana's stability and peace for political gain. 
She told them that the United States also has a strong 
interest in Ghana continuing to consolidate its democratic 
record and its economic prosperity.  She said that Ghana's 
elections, fairly or not, are viewed from abroad as a 
referendum of democracy throughout Africa. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A/S Frazer also met with Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the 
director of the Electoral Commission, and congratulated him 
on the EC's work in the December 7 election.  He said that 
despite incessant rumors about EC shortcomings on the part of 
both parties, the Commission was prepared for December 28, 
and he assured the Assistant Secretary that the elections 
would go well.  In a meeting with former President Jerry 
Rawlings, A/S Frazer delivered much the same message as she 
had given both candidates.  Upon hearing the hardened 
position that Rawlings was threatening to take in the event 
of an NDC loss, the A/S hastened to strengthen her warning 
that political reward at the risk of losing all of Ghana's 
hard-won economic and social gains over the past two decades 
was not a path either party should be choosing. 
 
¶5. (SBU) At her meeting with President Kufuor, A/S Frazer 
called upon him to exhibit his leadership in the event of any 
election irregularities to keep Ghana on track in its 
developing democracy.  She said that the US admired his 
actions in stepping aside and promoting the democratic 
process, and expected him to play a positive role in the 
upcoming transition, no matter who won the election.  For his 
part, President Kufuor said that he expected a free and fair 
process and that he was prepared to pave the way for the new 
administration.  Without digging too far under the surface, 
however, it was clear that he believed a Mills victory would 
be the equivalent of his nemesis, former president Rawlings, 
entering the newly constructed Jubilee House, an event he 
would not welcome. 
TEITELBAUM