Polls open in Ghana's general election overshadowed by worst economic crisis in a generation

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) – Polls in Ghana's presidential and legislative elections opened Saturday, set to be a litmus test for democracy. in a region rocked by extremist violence and coups.

Some 18.7 million people are registered to vote in the West African country hit by one of the worst economic crises in a generation. However, the two main candidates giving some hope for change to the country.

Ghana used to be the poster child for democracy in the region. At a time when coups threatened democracy in West Africa, Ghana has emerged as a beacon of democratic stability with a history of peaceful elections. It had also been an economic powerhouse, proud of its economic development.

But in recent years, it has been struggling with a serious economic crisis, including rising inflation and a lack of jobs.

According to a poll released earlier this year by Afrobarometer, a research group, 82% of Ghanaians believe their country is headed in the wrong direction

Although 12 candidates are running to become the next president of Ghana, Saturday's election – like the previous ones since the return of multi-party politics in 1992 – has emerged as a two-horse race.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is a candidate for the ruling New Patriotic Party, or NPP, which has been struggling to resolve the economic crisis. He is against former President John Dramani Mahama, leader of the main opposition party National Democratic Congress, or the NDC. He was voted out in 2016 after failing to deliver on promises for the economy.

The NDC prides itself as a social democratic party, while the ruling NPP indicates that it leans to the right. But in fact, analysts and pollsters said, the programs of their presidential candidates do not differ in any significant way.

Two hundred and seventy-six members of parliament will also be elected on Saturday. The ruling NPP and main opposition NDC have 137 members in the 275-member legislature, with one independent member who has been voting mostly with the ruling party. One more constituency will be allowed to vote in this election, bringing the number of representatives to 276.

In their final campaign rallies on Thursday, the two candidates made a last ditch effort to articulate their political parties' response to Ghana's economic woes.

Bawumia, 61, an Oxford-educated economist and former deputy governor of the country's central bank, promised to build on the efforts of the outgoing administration and stabilize the economy.

On the other hand, Mahama, 65, said he promised to “reset” the country in various areas. “We need to reset our democracy, governance, economy, finance, agriculture, infrastructure, environment, health sector, and everything we have as a people,” the former president said.

Across the capital city of Accra, the election mood has been upbeat in posters and billboards with bikers performing stunts, political rallies in the streets, election bells and songs blasting from public speakers.

But the concern for many is also visible for the main thing at stake: the sick economy of the country, which has been a challenge in various areas in recent years.

The country defaulted on most of its foreign debt last year as the economic crisis was escalating and the price of fuel, food and other essentials rose. The inflation rate had hit 54% by the end of last year and although it has been falling since then, many Ghanaians still cannot tell the difference when they go to the market.

The ongoing challenge of illegal gold mining – known locally as galamsey – has also been a major problem in the campaign and a source of concern for voters, fueling protests and criticism of the outgoing government.

Ghana is Africa's leading gold producer and the sixth largest gold producer in the world, but the commodity has been increasingly illegally mined as people are increasingly desperate to find jobs. in an economy that has been declining. The mining has polluted rivers and other parts of the environment despite government actions to stop the practice.