ACCRA (Ghana), Jan 4: Ghana’s largely peaceful and credible presidential election was a rare example of a functioning democracy in Africa and should be a model for the continent, African leaders and voters said on Sunday.

Much attention in Africa and elsewhere was focused on the Ghanaian vote after a year of political crises, many of them violent, tarnished Africa’s democratic credentials.

Opposition candidate John Atta Mills was declared the winner on Saturday after the closely fought election in the gold and cocoa exporter was settled by a run-off.

“John Atta Mills’ victory and the conduct of the people of Ghana provides a rare example of democracy at work in Africa,” Kenya’s prime minister Raila Odinga said in a statement.

While some violence was reported, international observers say the vote was mostly peaceful, in contrast with many other African countries, where democracy was battered in 2008.

More than 1,000 people were killed in post-election violence in Kenya last year and in Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have been deadlocked for months over a power-sharing agreement after disputed elections.

COUP: Mauritania’s first freely elected leader was overthrown in a military coup in August and army officers in Guinea took power after the death of President Lansana Conte in December.

“(The Ghanaian election) bears testimony to the respect for democracy and good governance in Africa,” South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said. “The people of Ghana ... have through the ballot paper showed their appreciation for democracy,” he said in a statement.

Ghana’s neighbour and fellow cocoa producer Ivory Coast again postponed presidential elections last year and analysts say they are unlikely to be held before the end of 2009 due to delays in disarmament and voter registration.—Reuters