Bawumia, Mahama Lead Tight Race As Ghanaians Vote In Presidential Polls On Saturday

Ghanaians would go to the polls on Saturday to elect their next president, as the West African country grapples with its worst economic situation in decades.

Twelve candidates are vying for the presidency, as the incumbent, Nana Akufo-Addo, reaches his two-term limit.

But the frontrunners are seen as two men from Ghana’s two dominant parties: the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), according to CNN.

Opinion polls indicate that voters are split between current vice president Mahamudu Bawumia, 61, and former one-term president John Mahama, 66, who hopes to achieve a comeback similar to that achieved by US President-elect Donald Trump.

“The economy is a priority for the electorates,” Godfred Bokpin, an economist and professor of finance at the University of Ghana Business School, told CNN.

But other issues such as high unemployment and a crisis over illegal gold mining, known locally as “galamsey” will also influence how voters cast their ballots, said Kwame Asah-Asante, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana.

Ghanaians have been railing against environmental degradation caused by unlicensed small-scale mining, a longstanding issue that has left large swathes of land pockmarked by pits and major rivers polluted.

Over the years, illegal mining sites have proliferated despite efforts by successive governments to rein in galamsey, including military deployments by the current government to shut it down.

High inflation, youth unemployment and a steep increase in the cost of living are believed to be its main drivers amid a global surge in gold prices. According to data from the Ghana Statistical Service, more than 1.3 million people aged between 15 and 35 were unemployed as of September last year.

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