Ghana's opposition scents victory

The opposition has won 55 of 72 seats so far declared

The opposition candidate in Ghana's presidential elections, John Kufuor, appears set for victory as early results put him well ahead of his nearest rival.

I want to thank my party for the way things have gone so far. I also want to thank God, because Kufuor has not done all this alone.

Opposition candidate John Kufuor

Mr Kufuor and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) are reported to have won 55 of the 72 constituencies where results have been declared, while his rival, Vice-President John Atta Mills, was ahead in 14.

The election was expected to be the closest since Ghana's independence in 1957, marking the end of two decades in power for the outgoing president, Jerry Rawlings.

But with local media saying that the NPP had received 58% of the vote compared with 38% for Mr Mills, Ghanaians seemed to have broken with the past and rejected Mr Rawlings' National Democratic Congress (NDC).

And if the current trend continues if the remainder of the country's 200 constituencies, the NPP will gain an outright parliamentary majority.

Traditional stronghold

Reuters news agency says the mood at NPP electoral headquarters is buoyant.

Vice-President Mills appears to be losing

Mr Kufuor told local TV: "I want to thank my party for the way things have gone so far. I also want to thank God, because Kufuor has not done all this alone."

Results are yet to be announced from the key Volta and Northern regions, where the ruling NDC draws most of its support.

International observers were quoted as saying that this was surprising, as in past elections those regions had been the first to release results.

Electoral Commission chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan told Reuters that the results had been delayed by verification procedures and transport problems.

Elections 'peaceful'

Local media reported that NPP and NDC supporters clashed in the town of Bawku near the border with Burkina Faso.

The rivals fought over ballot boxes which apparently arrived unaccompanied by election officials.

Voting was reportedly peaceful and orderly

Despite these problems, electoral officials and foreign observers said the election appeared to have been conducted peacefully.

"Things seem to have gone pretty smoothly apart from minor hitches, like a few unsealed ballot boxes," said a US observer in the capital Accra.

The electoral commission has said final results would be ready within 72 hours of the vote.

Thousands of people have gathered in the main square in the capital, Accra, to watch results being posted there on a billboard the size of a football pitch.

President Rawlings who seized power through the barrel of a gun but won multi-party elections in 1992 and 1996, said he would respect the poll results as long as the election was "fair, genuine and sincere".