Ghana's ruling New Patriotic Party has formally announced President Nana Akufo-Addo as its candidate for December's elections.
Akufo-Addo also announced Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate at an event in the capital, Accra, on Saturday.
Akufo-Addo will battle it out against his main opponent and his predecessor, John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress, for a third consecutive time. The two parties have dominated Ghanaian politics since 1992, with many previous ballots that have been close.
Economic growth in the West African nation has been 6% or more per year since the NPP government took office at the start of 2017. However, the forecast for 2020 expansion has been cut to 1.5% due to the collapse in oil prices and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. That would be the lowest rate in almost four decades.
“We did not plan for this unthinkable crisis but we did prepare our economy well for tougher times,” Akufo-Addo said Saturday. “We can build it stronger for you, the Ghanaian people, when this is all over. We are very much aware of the amount of work that remains to be done.”
Ghana has registered 15,834 confirmed cases and 103 deaths since the first detection of the disease on March 12.
The election management body will commence the compilation of a new voter roll from the end of June.
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