President Kufuor takes office in style
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 Jan. 2000
The drums sounded, police trumpeters sounded the fanfare and hundreds of people broke out into religious songs as Mr John Agyekum Kufuor took an oath as the President of Ghana.
Alhaji Aliu Mahama, in white lace, also took an oath on the Koran as the Vice-President. In a six-minute ceremony, President Kufuor swore on the Bible before the Mr Justice Isaac K. Abban to "uphold the constitution of Ghana and to do good to all manner of people."
He swore that should he break his oath "I will submit myself to the laws of Ghana and pay the penalty thereof."
President Kufuor then shook hands with Mr Justice Abban and Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker of Parliament, after which he was handed the solid gold State Sword, the symbol of his authority.
He raised it, drawing cheers from the crowd. Mr Kufuor, in rich "Adwen asa" kente, went back to the dais, shook hands and embraced Flt-Lt Jerry John Rawlings, his predecessor.
The new president also shook hands with leaders of four West African countries who have come to show solidarity with the Ghanaians on the historic transition of power from one democratically elected government to another.
They are Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso, Gnassigbe Eyadema of Togo, who is also the current chairman of the Organisation of African Unity.
He also embraced Mr. Jacob Zumah, Vice President of South Africa. President Rawlings drew applause when he arrived and made the NDC and NPP signs to signify the unity of the country.
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