The BBC World Today's Komla Dumor has described as a healthy development the turnout of Ghana’s presidential election.

He said the outcome gives indication that “the electorate cannot be taken for granted” and warns that “whoever is winner it must be clear to them that Ghanaians are going to hold you to account one day.”

Mr Dumor who is a former anchor of Joy FM’s flagship programme Super Morning Show is in the country to cover the 2008 polls for BBC. He has been speaking with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, host of the show.

He said although the second round of balloting could be expensive, it sent signals that Ghanaians are discerning and would take decisions based on a careful analysis of the issues that affect them.

Ghana’s presidential election heads for a run-off as none of the front runners seems unlikely to secure an outright victory.

An analysis of the results by Joy FM’s Election House statisticians on Tuesday put the flag-bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the lead with 49.04% while Prof. Atta Mills of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) trailed closely with 47.96% of ballots cast from 225 out of the 230 constituencies.

Nana Akufo-Addo took an early lead but the run-off scenario gathered strength as more results trickled in.

Asked how government would fare in the event that the ruling party secures the presidency with a legislature dominated by the opposition, the senior broadcaster said “government must continue.”

“If some are suggesting that we’ll end up with an executive from one party and a majority from the other, politicians would just have to work together,” he stated.

Komla however admitted that such a government would call for some “horse-training” and negotiations for better debates and discussions.

Mr. Dumor said politicians could easily be tempted to renege on their responsibility because of the demand of their job.

“For politicians,…it is pretty easy to lose touch with what is happening on the ground,” he noted.

He said it is important for politicians to appreciate the fact that politics “is more than party colours.”

Discerning electorate

Nana Oye Lithur, a human rights and gender activist, attributed Ghanaians' “discerning status” to the high number of media channels in the country.

“The politicians had better get the message because it’s just going to get better and better because those who are voting are going to get more and more discerning.

“If the people realise that they participated in the decision then they are going to get more and more interested in what is happening,” she said.

She emphasised that Ghana’s young democracy is fast maturing as the citizenry continue to realise “there is power in the thumb” and that they a role to play.

Play attached audio for excerpts of the interview


Story by Fiifi Koomson