It is a little over 24 hours since the country headed to the polls to vote for the next presidency. The winner so far has been unclear and as this is a major event in the country, Ghanaians are on the edge of their seats to know for certain who wins Ghana’s election 2020.
Typically, within 24 hours after an election, there is always a clear-cut foreknowledge of who wins the presidency. With both parties claiming to be the winner Ghana’s election 2020, predicting the winner has certainly been dicey.
On Tuesday, December 8, the Electoral Commission (EC) said it was going to announce the winner of the presidential election at 5pm but was unable to do so citing collation challenges. Jean Mensa, chairperson of the Electoral Commission said her outfit will be in a good position to announce the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election today.
“We express our regret for our inability to declare the results at 5 pm on Tuesday as planned. The unexpected rains and some of the challenges we experienced at the Collation Centre made it difficult to declare the results as expected. We are hoping that, in the early hours of today, we will receive two additional results and will thereafter be able to make the declaration today.” She said during a mid-night press conference.
“As we speak, the commission has received 14 out of 16 regional results. We have the National Collation Centre where we have had representatives of the various political parties since yesterday,” she further added.
What Awaits the next government
As we await the results, one thing is for certain, the next government will face the immense macro-economic challenges brought upon by the coronavirus pandemic. Whether it is the current sitting government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the opposition, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the macroeconomic challenges will certainly be a headache for that government to bear.
Various sectors of the economy have faced the ‘heavy hands’ of the pandemic. The industry and service sector contracted by 5.7% and 2.6% respectively, however, the agriculture sector proved resilient in the face of the pandemic by growing by 2.5% in the second quarter of the year.
Prior to the pandemic, the budget deficit was projected to hit 4.7% which is within the approved Fiscal Responsibility Law to cap fiscal deficit to 3%-5% of GDP. The pandemic brought about the suspension of the law as the government projects the deficit to hit an all-time high of 11.4% of GDP.
According to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-atta, the fiscal rule might not be restored in the next three (3) years.
Then follows the public debt which caused a stir amongst the economic community. A report by Bank of Ghana revealed that public debt to GDP had reached unsustainable levels hitting the mark of 71% of GDP and further projected to hit 77% of GDP at the end of the year.
Despite this bleak economic downturn, the economy’s growth numbers are slowly improving as economic life are gradually returning to pre-covid times. The next government will, however, have to incur the headache of improving the entire macroeconomy swiftly and tactfully to ensure a stable business and economic atmosphere.
