Chinese President Xi congratulates President-elect Mahama

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to John Dramani Mahama on his election as president of Ghana, CGTN the English-language news channel of state-run China Global Television Network reports. reports. 

Noting that Ghana is one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to establish diplomatic ties with China and is also an important strategic partner of China in Africa, Xi said that the China-Ghana friendship has a long history and has been strengthened over time. 

Also in the message, Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Ghana relations and stands ready to work with President-elect Mahama to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust and promote the China-Ghana strategic partnership to be deeper and more solid so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Mahama, running on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), won the presidency with 56.55 percent of the votes, representing over 6.32 million ballots cast. His closest rival, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), garnered 41.61 percent, equivalent to approximately 4.65 million votes.  

The Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, declared Mahama the winner late Sunday night. The results were based on counts from 267 constituencies, with nine constituencies still outstanding. However, the EC assured that the unreported figures would not affect the outcome of the election.