BBC: Ghana votes in presidential poll

Ghana votes in presidential poll

Supporter of incumbent Ghanaian President John Kufuor

Under Kufuor, the economy has stabilised but poverty has remained

Voting is underway in Ghana's presidential ballot on Tuesday, with John Kufuor seeking re-election.

There are four candidates for the presidency. The former British colony will also elect a new parliament, with eight parties contesting 230 seats.

This is the fourth presidential election in Ghana since the country became a multi-party state in 1992.

Mr Kufuor - nicknamed the gentle giant - is seeking his second and final four-year term allowed by the constitution.

Queues were reported across Ghana before the polls opened at 0700 GMT.

Mr Kufuor's New Patriotic Party, NPP, has been campaigning under the slogan "so far so good".

The BBC's West Africa Correspondent Andrew Simmonds says the emphasis has been placed on Ghana's economic and political stability.

Mr Kufuor's main rival is John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress who is challenging the president's economic record, highlighting price rises for petrol and utilities along with increased school fees.

Mr Kufuor, an Oxford-educated lawyer, insists that while his first mandate brought stability, a second term would enable increased growth in the private sector.

Opposition presidential candidate John Atta Mills on the campaign trail in Ghana

Atta Mills is hoping to avoid a repeat of his defeat in the last poll

A slide in Ghana's currency has slowed. Its inflation rate is 12.4%. That is down from more than 40% four years ago when Mr Kufuor defeated Mr Atta Mills - an election that marked the country's first peaceful and democratic transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1957.

After that election in 2000, the cost of borrowing has also been cut, by half.

But poverty is still rife in this country. An estimated 40% of its 20 million people are living below the United Nations poverty line of $1 pay per day and do not have access to sanitation, clean water or a regular electricity supply.

The opposition has raised fears about the fairness of the ballot, but the independent electoral commission has given strong assurances that the voting in 21,000 polling stations will go ahead freely and fairly.

Polls are due to close at 1700 GMT.