Ghana elections: Polls open with tight race predicted
Voting is under way in Ghana’s presidential election in what analysts say is a tight race between President John Mahama and veteran opposition leader Nana Akufo Addo.
All seven candidates have pledged to keep the process peaceful but an opposition supporter died when a rally tuned violent on Monday.
The campaign has been dominated by the faltering state of Ghana’s economy and the issue of corruption.
Results are expected within three days.
A run-off will be held later in the month if neither of the two main candidates secures more than 50% of the votes.
The candidates signed a pact last week vowing to follow electoral rules and keep the peace.
But clashes broke out on Monday in Chereponi, a small northern town on the border with Togo. In addition to the reported death, six people are said to be in a critical condition as a result.
Defeat for Mr Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would make him the only single-term president since Ghana returned to multi-party democracy.
Head-to-head:
NDC candidate: John Dramani Mahama, 57
- Vice-president under President John Atta Mills, who died in 2012. Completed his term
- Now seeking re-election after serving his first term of four years
- Political pedigree: His father was first minister of state for the Northern region
NPP candidate: Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, 72
- Campaigned for a return to multi-party democracy under military rule
- A former justice and foreign minister in the NPP government from 2001 to 2007, he is running for president for a third time
- Political pedigree: His father was a prominent politician who served as chief justice and ceremonial president
