Concede if you lose, Kofi Annan urges Ghanaian candidates

Any candidate who lost out in the just concluded presidential election in Ghana must concede defeat without delay in order to calm tensions, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has said.

In the spirit of democracy, i call on the losers to quickly concede defeat and defuse tensions and allay uncertainties, Annan indicated through a statement posted on his website this week.

The Electoral Commission [EC] of Ghana has said it has received 210 collated results from constituencies across the country out of a total 275 but the turnout has been disappointing. According to the chairperson of the EC, Ms Charlotte Osei, a 49 percent turnout has been recorded, which is hugely disappointing, compared to statistics from previous elections.

Osei who was speaking at a press conference on Friday urged the public to remain calm as the commission will announce the final results within 72 hours.