Ghanaians have voted emphatically for change as Jerry Rawlings, the strongman turned civilian president, prepares to bow out after nearly two decades in power.
With nearly one-third of some 10 million votes certified, opposition flagbearer John Kufuor had a comfortable lead over Rawlings' anointed successor, Vice President John Atta Mills, early Saturday.
In a vote marking the first orderly transfer of power in Ghana since it became the first African colony to win independence in 1957, Kufuor has swept urban centers and scored major upsets in ruling party strongholds.
An estimated 85 percent of the 10.7 million electorate turned out for the vote on Thursday, delivering a stinging indictment of Rawlings and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
Kufuor lost narrowly to Rawlings in 1996, giving the former coup-maker his second and final term of office under the constitution that restored multi-party politics in Ghana in 1992.
"They're now predicting a first-round victory (for Kufuor), which is actually quite a surprise," a western diplomat said. "It shows the scale of the swing."
The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) exuded confidence on Friday, talking to local radio about his priorities once in office, saying he would move quickly to ensure security in the country, then turn to appointing a cabinet.
"You have to look for the right people who share the same vision," he told private radio Vibe FM.
For many the elections amounted to a referendum on the Rawlings era, during which one of Africa's most colorful leaders assumed cult status in Ghana despite his sometimes ruthless rule.
His government's track record of corruption and financial mismanagement also spurred the desire for change.
Ghana, Africa's richest colony early in the last century thanks to its gold and cocoa, now faces economic meltdown with high unemployment, rising prices and a dangerously weak currency.
Plunges in world prices for gold and cocoa, its top foreign exchange earners, have made matters worse.
"Most people clearly wanted change," said analyst Audrey Gadzekpo. "It was a vote against the ruling government more than a vote for the opposition."
The NPP has grabbed at least 20 seats from the NDC in the 200-member parliament, including those of the current interior and agriculture ministers.
If current trends hold, the opposition is on course for a parliamentary majority, analysts told AFP. It has 61 seats in the outgoing parliament, to the NDC's 133.
The NPP has snapped up seats in the capital Accra that had been considered safe, and has an almost total lock on its main stronghold of Ashanti, the country's most heavily populated region.
The party's emphatic showing in the southern cities eclipsed the importance of the rural north, which had been a major battleground during the campaign because of Rawlings' populist appeal in the region.
Rawlings, who was Ghana's military ruler for 11 years after taking power in 1981, must now step down, many say reluctantly, at the age of 53.
Nevertheless, the outgoing president appears prepared to go quietly.
In an interview Vibe FM radio on Friday, Rawlings admitted that his protege and party could lose. "If we have to make predictions on the current trends, Kufuor could probably be the next president," he said.
The elections were generally peaceful, to the relief of many who feared manipulation, intimidation and violence.
The battle between the NDC and the NPP has left five other smaller parties in the dust.
