Dec 4 (Reuters) - Ghana's election on Sunday offers hope to the continent after troubled recent polls elsewhere. Below are facts about some of the ballots in Africa over the past year. * KENYA -- Kenya's December 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections were followed by ethnic and political violence in which at least 1,300 people were killed and 300,000 displaced. -- Opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki of rigging to secure his re-election in the very close vote. To end the crisis, they agreed to set up a power-sharing government. * ZIMBABWE -- Zimbabwe's presidential election run-off in June was condemned around the world. President Robert Mugabe was re-elected unopposed in a run-off vote boycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai because of attacks on his supporters. -- In the parliamentary election, the ruling ZANU-PF party lost its majority for the first time since independence in 1980. -- Power-sharing talks are still deadlocked and the crisis is spiralling. * ANGOLA: -- In the Sept. 5 parliamentary election, Angola's ruling MPLA party won a landslide with over 80 percent of the vote. -- The UNITA opposition condemned the ballot as flawed, but eventually agreed to accept the result. Foreign observers noted flaws, but agreed that the first poll in 16 years marked a step in the right direction. * RWANDA -- Rwanda's ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front party won a landslide in a September parliamentary elections. -- It was the second legislative vote since the 1994 genocide of 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderates from the Hutu majority. Critics say the authoritarian rule of President Paul Kagame, a former rebel leader and Tutsi, hampers democracy. * ZAMBIA -- Zambian leader Rupiah Banda won the Oct. 29 election with 40.1 percent of the vote to 38.1 percent for rival Michael Sata in a poll that followed the death of President Levy Mwanawasa. -- Sata's opposition Patriotic Front refused to recognise the results and has launched a court challenge to demand a recount. * GUINEA BISSAU -- Guinea-Bissau's former ruling PAIGC party won a clear majority in a Nov. 16 parliamentary election, seeing off a new formation allied to President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira. The results were immediately rejected as rigged by opposition leader and former president Koumba Yala. Days later, Vieira survived an attack by renegade soldiers.
RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2008 Two children stand together as heavy rain falls at a temporary shelter for around 19,000 displaced people during post-election violence in Eldoret February 7, 2008. ...
