VZCZCXRO7353
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #1617 3651850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301850Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7442
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ACCRA 001617 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: GH KDEM PGOV PHUM PINS PREL
SUBJECT: GHANA ELECTION: ATTA-MILLS VICTORIOUS (ALMOST) 
 
¶1.  (U)  The Director of Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC), 
Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, announced the results of the December 
28 presidential runoff election at 4:55 pm on December 30. 
National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate John Atta-Mills 
polled 4,501,466 votes (50.13%), and New Patriotic Party 
(NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo received 4,478,411 votes 
(49.87%).  Technically, Atta-Mills received the required 
number of votes (50% plus one) to be declared president, but 
Afari-Gyan declined to do so because the entire Tain 
constituency in the Brong-Ahafo Region did not vote on Sunday 
because of a ballot paper problem.  The number of votes 
separating the two candidates is 23,055, and the number of 
registered voters in Tain is around 40,000, so potentially 
voting in Tain could affect the outcome of the election. 
Afari-Gyan therefore declared that voting would take place 
Friday, January 2 in Tain, and no winner would be declared 
until that vote is tallied. 
 
¶2. (U) Despite Afari-Gyan delaying the declaration of the 
winner, the results announced today clearly indicate an NDC 
win, and the party's supporters, who had done the math, were 
on the streets of Accra jubilating (that's the Ghanaian term) 
immediately after the announcement of the results.  For the 
NPP to close the gap, they would have to win overwhelmingly 
in Tain, and that is extremely unlikely to happen.  In the 
December 7 election, the NDC got 16,211 votes (50.7%), while 
NPP received 14,935 (46.8%), with the remaining votes going 
to minor party candidates. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Afari-Gyan also noted concerns expressed by the NDC 
over results in the NPP stronghold Ashanti Region, and by the 
NPP in the NDC stronghold Volta Region.  He added that "the 
name of the game is evidence."  He said that the NDC has 
shown some evidence to indicate a need to further investigate 
Ashanti voting, and that the NPP had promised to provide 
similar information for Volta.  (NOTE: Embassy observers in 
Ashanti found irregularities at one polling station there, 
where more votes were cast than were on the voter register. 
END NOTE)  Poloffs also learned that results faxed in from at 
least four constituencies in Ashanti region appeared to have 
been inflated, and that was the reason the announcement of 
the results were delayed alost five hours.  It appears 
likely that the final results will show an even stronger win 
by the NDC. 
 
¶4. (U)  The five-hour delay in announcing election results 
(from noon to 5 pm) created a good deal of tension throughout 
the country.  Many shops, banks, and other commercial 
establishments began closing at 3:00, and crowds outside the 
EC began swelling.  At 2:00, an EC spokesman told the media 
teams that results would be announced at 2:45, and several 
radio and television stations began a live feed at 2:30, 
eventually abandoning those an hour later.  When hours passed 
with no further announcements, NDC party agents at the EC 
began to become agitated, finally barging into the press 
center and shouting in front of the television cameras 
shortly before Afari-Gyan finally appeared.  As usual, his 
comments were well received and appeared to have a calming 
effect on the room.  The moment that he announced the tally 
for Atta-Mills, everyone in the press center could hear a 
roar go up from the crowd of NDC supporters that had been 
camped just a block away since the night before. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT.  In the end, the EC's announcement, 
although somewhat equivocal, was probably as good a result as 
anyone could have hoped for.  It adds to the EC's credibility 
and reputation for caution and fairness, while at the same 
time defusing what might have been a tense situation if it 
had announced a clear-cut winner despite partisan accusations 
and the lack of any voting in Tain.  (NOTE: Embassy has also 
learned that CODEO's Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), which 
will be announced tomorrow at 10 am, gave Atta-Mills 50.2%, 
and Akufo-Addo 49.8%, almost an exact match of EC results. 
END NOTE)  NPP supporters now can stay off the streets while 
they nurse a vague, if unrealistic, hope that a miracle may 
happen, while NDC supporters can rest easy tonight, confident 
that their candidate will win.  It gives the NPP some 
breathing room to decide how to react to their defeat, and 
the NDC some time to blow off steam and perhaps appear more 
magnanimous in victory when the winner is finally announced. 
If the NPP concedes defeat willingly and all goes as planned, 
it will have been a great day for Ghanaian democracy. 
TEITELBAUM