The Odododiodoo by-election passed off peacefully enough and Ghanaians can breathe a sigh of relief. There were fears that the polls would end in some violence, prompting the Inspector General of Police to put on a show of strength with a massive police presence in the constituency. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has expressed caution in the days leading up to the by-election that there was tension in the community and indeed, when a town hall meeting with the candidates was disrupted and ended prematurely, many people felt the seeds of a violent outcome had been sown.

At the time of writing yesterday evening, the trend was clear: The NDC would retain the seat, which it not surprisingly did.

Even before the official declaration of the result, jubilant supporters of NDC poured into the street of the constituency to celebrate their victory. Singing and dancing, they held placards containing different phrases of their victory. Among them were some of the leading members of the party like E.T. Mensah, Baba Jamal and Ato Ahoi.

Some leading members of the NPP were also present at the place where the result was declared. They included Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City Minister Jake Obestebe Lamptey, the Greater Regional Minister Sheikh I.C.Quaye and the AMA boss Nii Adjiri Blankson..

At exactly 8:50 last night, the Electoral Commission declared the result as follows: NDC 26 741 NPP 18 464 CPP 947 and DPP 98. On the basis of the above figures, the NDC candidate, Nii Tackie Kommey, was therefore declared winner of the much- discussed by-election retaining the seat for the NDC which the party won in Election 2004. Ghana, happily, has once more shown her preference of ballots over bullets.