Presidential elections have commenced today in Ghana amidst reports of voter intimidation and independence of the country's electoral commision.
Charismatic incumbent John Mahama is running for reelection against veteran politician Nana Akufo-Addo, who has chipped away at the popularity of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party by criticising the country’s sluggish growth and high-profile corruption scandals.
An exporter of gold, cocoa and oil, Ghana was once hailed as a regional growth model but has now taken on too much debt and in 2015 had to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
There are seven candidates battling for the top job and if the smaller parties perform well and deny either man a majority, a presidential run-off will be held later in December.
But ahead of the vote, tensions were building with police saying an NPP supporter was beaten to death and six others were critically wounded during clashes on Monday between supporters of the two main parties following a rally in the north
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