Winner declared in Ghana presidential election.

After two peaceful votes, opposition candidate John Evans Atta Mills narrowly won Ghana’s presidential election runoff vote over Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. According to the nation’s electoral commission, Mills won about 50.2 percent of the vote while Akufo-Addo garnered 49.77 percent. The commission also decided that there wasn’t any evidence of vote rigging, but Akufo-Addo is thinking about challenging the results in court, reports the BBC. Neither candidate failed to get over 50 percent of the vote in the first round of elections early in December, which made the runoff necessary.   Mill addressed supporters outside of his party’s headquarters, vowing to be a uniting force. “The time has come to work together to build a better Ghana. I assure Ghanaians that I will be president for all,” he told the crowd. He also congratulated his opponent for “giving us a good fight.” Ghana’s current president, John Agyekum Kufuor will step down this week after serving two terms (which is the maximum).The elections in the west African nation have been praised worldwide for its peacefulness, which is in sharp contrast to the violent elections and campaigns in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Jamaica sees 13 murders in 2009.

The New Year has gotten off to deadly start in Jamaica, which has seen 13 murders just in the first two days of the year, reports Caribbean Net. The Caribbean nation saw over 1,600 murders in 2008, making it have one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world. Jamaica’s National Transportation Program and Peace Management Institute had hoped for a crime-free January. A 20 year old, Kimani Manderson, was the first one killed, shot at Salt Spring minutes after the New Year. Crime has been a concern in the nation and Prime Minister Bruce Golding plans to make it a priority. “We are going to intensify even further efforts to turn back the tide of criminal activities plaguing the land,” Golding said.