Ghana president says democracy deepened with vote dispute

Ghana President John Dramani Mahama told AFP in an interview Friday after the supreme court upheld his 2012 election victory that the emerging nation had passed a major democratic test through its handling of the disputed vote.

Mahama, in the interview a day after the court delivered its verdict, also spoke of confronting challenges facing the west African nation's fast-growing economy, with a ballooning deficit having drawn concerns from analysts.

"I'd always known that I was legitimately elected, and I knew that eventually justice will be served," he said. "And justice has been served."

The case riveted the nation of 25 million people viewed as a rare example of stable democracy in the region, and Mahama said it "was a test for Ghana, and we've passed it.

"The people of Ghana have done it. They've sent a message to the world that this country is stable politically and has matured in its democracy, and so we're ready to do business with the world."

The electoral commission said Mahama won 50.7 percent of the vote over New Patriotic Party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo's 47.7 percent in polls held last December.

While observers generally praised the elections, Akufo-Addo claimed the balloting was riddled with improprieties and challenged the results at the supreme court.

The sometimes tense proceedings broadcast live on radio and television came to an end on Thursday when the court upheld the results. Akufo-Addo conceded defeat shortly afterward and called Mahama to congratulate him.

The election itself had been largely peaceful and there were no reports of trouble after the court verdict.

Mahama first took office in July of last year after president John Atta Mills died in office.

As the court deliberated over Mahama's victory, the president was also facing falling commodities prices and excessive government spending.

Ghana is Africa's second largest producer of gold and the world's second-largest grower of cocoa. It also began pumping oil in 2010.

It is considered one of west Africa's most resilient democracies, with six elections and peaceful transfers of power between the country's two main parties since 1992.

DRAMATIC ECONOMIC GROWTH

The economy grew at a dramatic 14 percent in 2011 after oil production began and 7.9 percent in 2012, but government overspending caused its deficit-to-GDP ratio to balloon to 12.1 percent.

Fitch downgraded Ghana's outlook in the wake of the announcement of those figures.

"Our focus is to reign in the deficit and bring the economy back on track in terms of macroeconomic stability," Mahama said.

"We've been taking quite bold and difficult decisions... The economy is responding positively to the decisions we've taken."

Two reports from Ghanaian think-tanks released in August criticised the government's management of its oil revenue. Poor tax laws and spending priorities had stopped Ghana's oil money from living up to its potential, they said.

Because Ghana was a new producer of oil, Mahama said initial exploration licenses had to be negotiated on "liberal" terms.

"I do think that subsequent licenses are going to show a much better negotiation for the people of Ghana," he said.

While Ghana's gold sector has long been the province of large companies like AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields, Chinese miners flooded the gold-producing region in recent years, collaborating with Ghanaians to stake out small mining claims.

Foreign involvement in small-scale mining is illegal, and in June, Ghana sent security forces to arrest the illegal miners.

Immigrations officials said over 4,500 Chinese citizens were deported or left voluntarily in the wake of the raids.

China is an important trading partner for Ghana, with the Asian giant having given loans and collaborated on major infrastructure projects.

"It hasn't had any effect on our relations with China," Mahama said when asked about the departure of the Chinese.

"I believe that we are acting within the law and in all my discussions with my Chinese counterparts, they understand the problems that illegal gold mining is causing for Ghana."

While Ghana was mostly insulated from fighting during neighbouring Ivory Coast's election crisis following 2010 polls, refugees and officials loyal to former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo have occasionally presented a challenge to Mahama.

Ghana has arrested several former Gbagbo officials since Mahama's January inauguration, including fiery youth leader Charles Ble Goude, who Mahama said was extradited in January at the request of the International Criminal Court.

On Friday, a court in Ghana declined to extradite Justin Kone Katinan, Gbagbo's spokesman who was arrested last year in Ghana at the request of Ivorian authorities.

Katinan said he would remain in Ghana and continue to advocate for Gbagbo's release from ICC custody.

"Anybody who abuses our hospitality and uses Ghana to conspire and plot to destabilise our government in their home regions will not be allowed to do so," Mahama warned.