Ghana's 'gentle giant' re-elected Ghanaian President John Kufuor has secured a second four-year term, the election commission chairman says. Mr Kufuor, known as the "gentle giant", won 52.75% of the vote in Tuesday's presidential poll, sparking street parties in the capital, Accra. His main rival, opposition leader John Atta Mills, gained 44.32% of the vote. Observers have praised the conduct of the election, which attracted a high turnout of 83.2%, however, the opposition has lodged complaints. Results from five districts are still expected, but they will not change the overall outcome, Election Commission chairman Kwadwo Afari-Djan said. "I declare President Kufuor new president of the Ghana republic," he said. 'Work harder' The BBC's Kwaku Sakyi-Addo in Accra says that thousands of people poured onto the streets to celebrate Mr Kufuor's re-election, wearing the colours of his party and shouting his name. OFFICIAL RESULTS Presidential poll: John Kufuor: 52.75% John Atta Mills: 44.32% Edward Mahama: 1.9% George Aggudey: 1% The president's press secretary Kwabena Agyepong told the BBC that he had expected a bigger margin of victory and he would use his second term to try and improve living standards for Ghana's poor. "We need to work much harder to bring the fruits of economic progress to the people of Ghana," he said. Several ruling party ministers are thought to have lost their seats in the parliamentary poll, which was held at the same time as the presidential contest. Final results have not yet been declared but Mr Kufuor's New Patriotic Party seems to be heading for a majority, with between 120 and 130 MPs in the 230-seat parliament, our correspondent says. Mr Atta Mills' National Democratic Congress (NDC) is set for 95-100 seats. The NDC has complained about the high number of spoilt and rejected ballot papers - 2% - and has alleged that in Mr Kufuor's stronghold of the central Ashanti region, the number of votes cast was higher than the number of registered voters. However, the electoral commission has rejected both complaints. Peaceful poll Mr Kufuor defeated Mr Atta Mills four years ago, in an election that marked the country's first peaceful and democratic transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1957. The presidential election is the fourth since Ghana became a multi-party state in 1992. The two other presidential candidates got less than 2% of votes cast. Edward Mahama, candidate of the Grand Coalition of opposition parties, polled 1.9% and George Aggudey, of the Convention People's Party founded by Ghana's first leader Kwame Nkrumah, received 1%. The BBC's Andrew Simmons in Accra says Mr Kufuor's supporters voted for stability, even though daily costs such as school fees, petrol prices and consumer goods are making their lives difficult. The president has drastically reduced inflation and borrowing costs, and assured people during the campaign that prices and wages would improve. Mr Mills focused on the major issue of poverty. He assured poor people, who make up 40% of the country's 20 million population, that under his rule they would see more money in their pockets. But the BBC's reporter says it appears that his tactics have failed to undermine Mr Kufuor's economic reforms. The majority of people trust him, our reporter says, although in the longer term they will want to see some personal gain in return. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4077835.stm Published: 2004/12/10 10:10:48 GMT いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい