Kufuor Leads in Ghana Election But Gap Shrinks

The main opposition candidate leading in Ghana's presidential election lost ground to his government foe, fresh preliminary returns showed on Saturday, and the ruling party predicted a second round would be needed.

With results declared from just over half of the 200 constituencies, John Kufuor was ahead with 52.81 percent of the vote against 41.02 percent for Vice President John Atta Mills.

The rest of Thursday's vote split between five other candidates, most of whom came forward on Saturday to concede defeat.

Results for the parliamentary vote also indicated a narrowing lead for Kufuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In a statement broadcast on state radio, Mills's National Democratic Congress (NDC) said it now believed the presidential election would go into a second round and accused the NPP of releasing misleading results.

A two-man run-off would be held within 21 days of the first round if no candidate grabs more than 50 percent of the vote.

Foreign electoral observers said the late release of results from the Volta and Northern regions, where the ruling NDC draws the bulk of its support, enabled Mills to close the gap.

Second Round May Be On The Cards

``At this stage, a second round cannot be ruled out,'' said one European election observer. ``Given the NPP's poor showing in NDC strongholds, a few constituencies could just swing enough votes to require a run-off.''

Results released earlier by state radio put Kufuor at 58.4 percent compared with 36.6 percent for Mills, raising hopes among NPP supporters that their candidate might clinch an outright victory.

The election marks the end of 19 years in power for President Jerry Rawlings, the West African country's longest serving leader since independence from Britain in 1957.

Rawlings, who seized power in a military coup but won multi-party elections in 1992 and 1996, is due to step down on January 7 because of a constitutional two-term limit. He has pledged to respect the poll result.

Early returns, most of which came from NPP strongholds, showed the NPP had grabbed several constituencies previously held by the NDC, especially in the Brong Ahafo and Western regions as well as in Greater Accra.

Several incumbent ministers lost their parliamentary seat, including Interior Minister Nii Okaija Adamafio.

The election commission had said it should be able to announce the final results within 72 hours of the vote.

State radio reported that the death toll from political violence in the northern town of Bawku, near the border with Burkina Faso, had risen to seven.

Regional authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the town on Friday and extra security forces were deployed in the region.