The Ghanaian incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has been declared the winner of the recently concluded presidential election in the West African state, securing four more years in office.

In an announcement made by the country’s election commission, Akufo-Addo received 6.73 million votes or 51.6% of valid ballots, while his biggest political rival John Mahama, of the main opposition National Democratic Congress, received 47.4%.

“At the end of the polls, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party, obtained 6,730,413 votes, being 51.595% of the total valid votes cast,” said Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Ghanaian electoral commission who shared the results publicly at a press briefing in the country’s capital of Accra. The front-runners were separated by just over 500,000 votes.

Reacting to his win, Akufo-Addo in a speech from his home in Accra revealed that his immediate task would be focused on reversing the effect Covid-19 has had on the country’s economy and people. “Before the pandemic struck, Ghana in recent years was one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and, I give you my word, we will bring back that reputation,” he explained.

Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party campaigned on the need to consolidate the achievements of his first term, including free senior-secondary school education for Ghanaian students, the industrialization drive and the bolstering of farmers’ incomes in the world’s second-largest cocoa producer. The ease with which he will push through policies will depend on parliamentary election results, which were still being counted Wednesday.

“The Ghanaian people have made it loud and clear that the two parties, NPP and NDC, must work together especially in parliament for the good of the country,” he also added, as both leading candidates had signed a solemn undertaking to resolve any electoral disputes through legal channels and called on their supporters to refrain from violence. Despite this, five deaths were recorded by the Ghanaian Police.