Counting under way in Ghana elections

The elections will see an elected leader hand power to another for the first time in the West African country's 43-year history. First results are expected late Thursday or early Friday with full results within 72 hours, the electoral commission said.

Voting was generally peace except for confusion at some polling stations in the capital Accra. Several people were also arrested trying to vote more than once or for trying to impersonate other voters.

They are the third successive multi-party elections organized by former military leader Jerry Rawlings who transformed himself into a democratically elected president in 1996. His second and final term of office ends on January 7 next year.

Some 10.7 million registered voters had been expected to cast their ballots for a new president and 200 parliamentarians during the 10-hour voting period until 5 p.m. in more than 20,000 polling stations.

Seven presidential candidates, all supported by political parties, are contesting the election for the most important political post under Ghana's constitution.

The most prominent are Vice-President John Atta Mills (National Democratic Congress), John Agyekum Kufuor (New Patriotic Party), Edward Mahama (People's National Convention) and Charles Wereko- Brobby (United Ghana Movement).

The rest are Goosie Tanoh (National Reform Party), George Hagan (Convention People's Party) and Dan Lartey (Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP).

The contest is seen as a straight fight between Mills and the National Democratic Congress and Kofuor and the New Patriotic Party. The candidate who wins 50 per cent of the votes cast plus one wins the presidential contest and will rule for four years. In the event of no candidate winning that magic number in the first round, there would be a run- off between the top two candidates two weeks later.

About 1,060 parliamentary candidates, including 93 women, are contesting the legislative vote. In a television speech to the nation earlier Thursday, Rawlings said: "I am aware that many parts in the world have become increasingly sceptical towards democratic processes in Africa and particularly black Africa. "But Ghana is one of the black countries that has proven it can manage its own affairs".

He told the military and security forces that their only job was to secure a peaceful voting day. Voting went ahead after the Supreme Court cleared the knotty issue of what identification to accept for the poll. The elections had been thrown into doubt when a voter sued the electoral commission over its decision to allow only holders of photo ID cards to vote. A five-member Supreme Court presided over by Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo unanimously ruled that registered voters with either the photo or thumb-printed ID card could vote.

Kufuor said he would accept the results if he was satisfied that the voting had taken place without fear and intimidation.

Mills, speaking after casting his vote, said, "I think that we've done all that we could to build our democracy. It is now the responsibility of all to contribute to make it stronger."

(dpa)