January 6, 2009 Update:
From Melvin Rhodes, senior pastor, Ghana:
Many thanks to everybody for their prayers for the Ghanaian brethren during and after the election of December 28th. The opposition candidate won the presidential election. The outgoing president appealed to members of his party to honor the result and to hand over the reins of power. It looks as if there will be a peaceful hand over of power in the next few days. This is almost unheard of in Africa and follows disastrous elections in both Kenya and Zimbabwe in which hundreds of people were killed. We give thanks to God for this peaceful transfer of power in Ghana and hope it sets a precedent for the rest of Africa.-----------------------------------------------
January 2, 2009
From Melvin Rhodes, senior pastor, Ghana:
The second round of the Ghanaian elections were held Sunday, December 28th. The result is a tie between the two presidential candidates.
At the time of writing on Monday afternoon, supporters of the opposition candidate have besieged the Electoral Commission building and are demanding to see the ballots. In the city of Kumasi challenges have been made contesting the results in three constituencies. The government has called out the army to break up demonstrations. This could easily escalate the situation.
Peaceful transitions from one political party to another are almost unheard of in Africa. It is also the case that electoral disputes can easily result in tribal conflict as, typically, people support a candidate from their own tribe.
Our members in Ghana are extremely concerned that this could happen in Ghana, just as it did in Kenya and Zimbabwe earlier this year.
They have asked for our prayers during this difficult time, that Ghana remain peaceful and that their very fragile economy not be hindered by political uncertainty.