Ghanaians express mixed views about election outcome

The Ghana News Agency has been sampling the impressions of some members of the public on the just-ended general election in which Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was elected President of Ghana.

Mr Dennis Gati, a self-employed, said President Mahama's defeat at the polls “seemed like a mirage” to him.

He said a wind of change had caught up with Ghana, and therefore, all and sundry must embrace it.

Mr Gati said he was looking forward to seeing Nana Akufo-Addo's administration resolve the economic challenges that had bedevilled the nation.

An educationist who pleaded anonymity, said the NDC's defeat was a self-inflicted one, adding that "some of the NDC's parliamentarians had lost touch with the people, while others were very arrogant, so the people decided to punish them at the polls".

He urged the NDC not to apportion blame but go back to the drawing board and find out what went wrong.

He said Ghanaians, especially the youth, had high expectations for the incoming administration, and that if the new government fails to deliver, the same fate as that of the NDC awaits them in the 2020 polls.

Mr Kwame Kumah, a driver’s mate, said he was looking forward to a more prosperous economy with jobs, so that he could earn better income and be able to rent his own accommodation and marry.

Some of the respondents said they had expected out-going President Mahama to be retained, due to the numerous infrastructural projects his administration was able to put in place such as roads, the 123 Community Day Senior High Schools, as well as the Kwame Nkrumah and Kasoa interchanges.

Ms Janet Manu who is in her mid-thirties, and an unemployed mother of two, expressed her joy over Nana Akufo-Addo's victory.

Dressed in a basic school uniform, an elated Ms Manu said she was lacing her canvas boots properly for Nana Akufo-Addo's free education programme.

Asked what class she would like to enrol in, Ms Manu said she had never been to school and that she was ready to start at any level.