Ghana’s Supreme Court has ruled that the parliamentary speaker's declaration of four seats as vacant was unconstitutional, effectively restoring the ruling party’s majority in the legislature ahead of the Dec. 7 election.

Officials say a corporate jet may have experienced stability problems before the severe buffeting that caused the death of a woman who served in prominent posts in two presidential administrations.

Electoral commission officials count the ballots after polls closed in Accra, Ghana, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Ofoe Amegavie)ACCRA – At least five people have been killed in Ghana and a dozen injured in violence related to the presidential and legislative elections held on Monday, said police. The election has tested the West African nation’s credentials as one of the continent’s most politically stable countries. Twenty-one violent outbreaks have been identified as election-related across the West African country, Ghana’s Police Service said Wednesday. There were 12 candidates for president, with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, 76, and former president John Dramani Mahama, 62, forecast as the frontrunners.

People line up to vote at a polling station in Accra, Ghana, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Ghana has held peaceful, free, fair, and transparent elections for nearly two decades — this will be the eighth consecutive election since the country's return to multi-party democracy in 1992. President Akufo-Addo voted in his constituency at Kyebi in the Eastern Region. Both Akufo-Addo and former president Mahama have campaigned on anti-corruption platforms, while trading accusations against each other. In his Sunday address, Akufo-Addo added: “The entire world is looking up to us to maintain our status as a beacon of democracy, peace, and stability.

Ghana has held peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections for nearly two decades — this will be the eighth consecutive election since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992. Both President Akufo-Addo and former President Mahama have campaigned on anti-corruption platforms, while trading accusations against each other. “l am very worried that there is likely to be some trouble during this election," said Sitsofe Mifetu, a businessman in Accra. Ghana has about 17 million people registered to vote at more than 33,000 polling stations for the president and 275 legislative seats. Experts say it is likely Akufo-Addo will win the election, though he would have to get more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a second round.