Ghana's veteran runner-up
Akufo-Addo, who speaks with a distinguished British accent -- he studied in England -- has enjoyed a successful career.
Ghana's New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo
Recommended articles
Akufo-Addo, an erudite rights lawyer and former government minister with round tortoiseshell glasses, narrowly lost the 2008 and 2012 elections to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He contested the results in 2012 alleging electoral fraud, but ultimately accepted the Supreme Court's ruling upholding John Mahama's presidency.
Today Akufo-Addo, the son of a former president, has pledged to play by the rules and accept defeat even on the slimmest of margins, underscoring his commitment to keeping the peace in a country hailed as one of Africa's most stable democracies.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The stability and progress of Ghana and advancement of her democracy guided our actions in those difficult days," Akufo-Addo said recently of the campaign.
Akufo-Addo is banking on the backing of voters who are frustrated with a litany of corruption scandals, unreliable electricity and sluggish economic growth.
While Mahama has been slow to address what voters perceive as worsening corruption, Akufo-Addo has promised to act quickly to stop a "borrowing binge" that has "mortgaged our future".
The 72-year-old campaigned hard across the country, brandishing his party's red, white and blue flag emblazoned with an elephant as a symbol for radical change.
An economic liberal, he has focussed on creating more jobs -- especially among youth who face growing levels of unemployment -- and on modernising the commodity-dependent economy.
ADVERTISEMENT
His "one district, one factory" programme would encourage private sector investment, as would a policy of slashing corporate taxes.
Akufo-Addo was born in Kyebi, in the eastern region of Ghana into the political elite.
He is related to three of the "Big Six", politicians dubbed as Ghana's founding fathers, including his father who served as president.
He worked in England and France before returning to Ghana.
When multi-party democracy was restored to the west African country in 1992 after decades of military rule, Akufo-Addo became involved with the NPP, later serving as both justice minister then foreign minister under President John Kufuor between 2001 and 2008.
ADVERTISEMENT
In his last election stand-off with Mahama, he lost 47.7 to the 50.7 percent. Four years later, this will likely be his final bid for Ghana's top job.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
Recommended articles
756 schools to compete in Anambra sports festival
Residents protest plan to withdraw security from Edo ijaw communities
Gov Sani unveils ₦500m loan scheme for Kaduna workers
Obi salutes Nigerian workers amid countless obstacles and hurdles
Lagos community begs Tinubu to stop Umahi from implementing Lagos-Calabar road design
How we nurtured Anambra UTME candidate to score 324 in JAMB - LG Chairman
FG commences payment of ₦2.7bn to property owners affected by Lagos-Calabar Highway
Kanu, Igboho, Ekpa are paid by foreign countries to cause problems in Nigeria - Seun Kuti
'What we built in 6 years was destroyed in 6 hours' — Landmark counts losses
ADVERTISEMENT
![The Senate leadership dissociated itself from this action [Difference Between]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "The Senate leadership dissociated itself from this action [Difference Between]")