Rawlings Versus Kuffour | Neck-and-Neck | Ghana Elections | December 1996

Wednesday, December 4th 1996 & Thursday, December 5th 1996. Footage of the build up to the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Ghana with Jerry Rawlings giving a speech at a rally on December 4th and an interview with John Kufour taped the previous day. Rawlings won by a landslide in his native Volta Region while Kufour did the same in and around Kumasi, Ghana's second city. The estimated turnout on Saturday, 7th December was 70% of the more than nine million of Ghana's 17.5 million eligible voters. Provisional results showed that with about 12.5 percent of constituencies declared, Rawlings had 378,773 votes to Kufuor's 369,530. Kufour, a lawyer and businessman who served in the civilian administration of Dr. Kofi Busia, felt that he had brought what he termed "professionalism" to the election campaign. The half-Scot Rawlings who as an air force officer had twice seized power power, was considered every thing from a despot to a messiah and his political style as one ranging from a populist to a demagogue. He went into the elections feeling the pressure of public discontent over widespread inflation and high unemployment. He won a second term. Source of footage: Reuters News Archive.