US embassy cable - 04ACCRA2443

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 002443 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, GH 
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KUFUOR WINS GHANA'S ELECTION 
 
REF: A. A) ACCRA 7444 B) ACCRA 2366 
 
     B. C) ACCRA 2367 D)ACCRA 2390 
 
Classified By: PolChief Scott Ticknor for reasons 1.5 d and e. 
 
1.  (U)  Summary:  The Electoral Commission has officially 
declared President John Kufuor the winner of the December 7 
presidential election, with 52.7 percent of the vote (with 3 
constituencies not yet confirmed).  As of noon December 10, 
NDC candidate John Atta Mills had not yet conceded defeat. 
The NPP won 129 out of 227 confirmed parliamentary seats. 
Post issued a congratulatory statement on the election 
results. End summary. 
 
Updated Results 
--------------- 
 
2. (U) On the night of December 9, the Electoral Commission 
officially declared President John Kufuor the winner of the 
December 7 presidential election.  With 227 of 230 
constituencies counted (the EC has still not yet confirmed 3 
constituency results), the tally is: 
 
Presidential 
------------ 
 
Candidate               Percentage Vote 
 
---------               --------------- 
 
John Kufuor (NPP)                   52.75 
John Evans Atta Mills (NDC)         44.32 
Edward Mahama (PNC)                 1.93 
George Aggudey (CPP)                1.0 
 
Parliamentary 
------------- 
 
Party       Number of Seats Won 
-----       ------------------- 
 
NPP         129 
NDC         90 
PNC         4 
CPP         3 
Independent       1 
 
3.  (U)  According to the EC, 8,615,306 ballots were cast, of 
which 183,997 were rejected (2.14 percent), leaving a total 
of 8,462,710 valid ballots.  Kufuor won 4.46 million votes, 
compared to Mills' 3.75 million.  The final voter turnout was 
83.2 percent.  The EC refused an NDC request for a recount of 
the rejected ballots. 
 
4.  (U)  On December 10, President Kufuor addressed the media 
acknowledging the EC's decision, thanking Ghanaians, and 
noting that his priorities for the next term are: good 
governance, human resource development, economic growth and 
reforms, and reconciliation in the troubled Dagbon area of 
Northern Region.  As of noon December 10, Mills had not yet 
conceded defeat. 
 
Key Judgments 
------------- 
 
5.  (C)  We will be analyzing this election in detail over 
the coming weeks.  Our initial assessment of these results 
points to the following judgments: 
 
-- President Kufuor won by a comfortable, but not an 
overwhelming, margin.  NDC presidential candidate Mills did 
respectably, scoring about the same as in both rounds of the 
2000 election.  This election reinforced the dominance of 
Ghana's two main parties. 
 
-- The CPP and PNC, both in the Nkrumahist political 
tradition, remain small players in Ghanaian politics.  The 
CPP did particularly poorly, in part a consequence of its 
weak presidential candidate.  The CPP won 2 of its 3 
parliamentary races in seats which the NPP did not contest 
(ceding the territory to CPP allies).  Other small parties 
were unable to win a single seat. 
 
-- The NPP position in parliament appears likely to improve 
slightly, increasing from 103 (of 200 seats) to at least 129 
(of 230 seats).  The NDC is slightly weaker, dropping from 89 
(out of 200 seats) to 90 (out of 227 seats at this point.) 
 
--  The election revealed general continuity in the vote 
banks of the NPP and NDC, with some new inroads by the NPP. 
The NPP did well in Ashanti and Eastern regions, while the 
NDC swept its traditional strongholds of Volta, Upper East, 
Upper West, and Northern regions.  The NPP did surprisingly 
well in Central and Greater Accra regions, which most local 
pundits thought would be more evenly split.  The NPP did much 
better than in 2000 in the Western region.  For the first 
time since 1992, the NPP won one parliamentary seat in Volta 
region. 
-- There were no major parliamentary upsets which are likely 
to have a significant impact on U.S.-Ghana relations. 
Prominent parliamentary losers included:  NDC National 
Organizer Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris 
(Minister of Works and Housing and the only Dagomba tribesman 
in the Cabinet), Elizabeth Ohene (Minister of State for 
Tertiary Education and a close PAS contact), Hawa Yakubu 
(former Minister of Tourism and a representative for Ghana in 
the ECOWAS parliament), Deputy Interior Minister Thomas 
Broni, and Jojo Bruce-Quansah Editor of Palaver newspaper (an 
NDC mouthpiece). 
-- Kufuor will not likely announce decisions about changes in 
his Cabinet after his inauguration on January 7. 
 
-- This election reinforced the reputation of the Electoral 
Commission.  Despite criticism before the election about the 
EC's handling of the voter register, its budget and its 
inaccessibility to party complaints, the Electoral Commission 
pulled off an impressive election. 
 
-- As predicted, the results reflect a combination of ethnic, 
personality, performance and other issues.  For many 
Ghanaians, the NPP was a party of peace, while the NDC was 
tainted to some extent by the human rights abuses and 
instability of the Rawlings era.  It is not clear whether 
Rawlings' prominence in this campaign helped the NDC. 
 
-- The election was generally free, fair and peaceful, with a 
few isolated incidents of violence.  It reinforces Ghana's 
democratic credentials and boosts its international image. 
Embassy observers were impressed by the turnout, fairness, 
and genuine democratic commitment of all involved in the 
election. 
 
USG Statement 
------------- 
 
5.  (U)  The Embassy issued the following press release on 
December 10: 
 
Begin Text. 
 
The US Government congratulates the people of Ghana for the 
successful completion of the presidential and parliamentary 
election in a transparent, fair and primarily peaceful 
manner.  This landmark event demonstrates to the subregion, 
the entire African continent, and the rest of the world that 
democratic values and institutions are firmly established in 
Ghana. 
 
We commend the Government of Ghana and the Electoral 
Commission for their actions to ensure a successful voting 
process that allowed the will of the electorate to prevail. 
 
We look forward to working with President John A. Kufuor and 
his administration to pursue the common interests of the 
United States and Ghana in a spirit of cooperation and mutual 
respect. 
 
We call on members of the new Parliament to work 
constructively with one another and Mr. Kufuor to address the 
issues important to the people and the future of Ghana. 
 
End Text. 
 
 
 
 
LANIER