Our Fifth President
Coup phobia - once bitten…
The old order changeth
Women's Ministry
We must feel proud for being Ghanaians - Kufuor
New era dawns – as President Kufuor steps into office
‘We’ll prosecute human-centred programmes’
Kufuor takes over
Our Fifth President
The Free Press reports that a teeming crowd of Ghanaians from all walks of life on Sunday converged at the forecourt of Parliament House to give President-elect Mr J.A. Kufuor a tumultuous welcome when he arrived to be sworn in by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice I.K. Abban, as the fifth constitutional president of the Republic of Ghana.
"As His Excellency Mr J.A. Kufuor stepped on the red carpet with his wife, Theresa, the people spontaneously sang in chorus, 'Aba Mu Awie' meaning what God had ordained had duly come to pass," the paper said.
The arrival of the President and an earlier one by Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings that was also heralded by a similar frenzy mood, however, turned things into disorder as people surged forward to catch a glimpse of them and Mr Rex Owusu-Ansah, Clerk of Parliament had pretty difficulty in escorting Mr Kufuor to the dais.
The Free Press says although the two leaders received a rousing welcome on their appearance, the difference between them was that nobody sang when former President Rawlings arrived while the famous Christian chorus, 'Aba Mu Awie' was churned out to herald the coming of Mr Kufuor.
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Coup phobia - once bitten…
The Accra Mail writes that image of the man Jerry John Rawlings, coup maker twice in 1979 and 1981 is etched in the memory of many Ghanaians, so even as President Kufuor starts his first day in the office, the rumours, even expectations, is that Rawlings would one way or the other work to undermine the new president.
Rawlings had seized power in 1979 and handed over to the Limann administration only to re-appear two years later in another take-over of the government he handed over to.
The paper says it is in the light of this history that worried citizens want something done about rumours of Rawlings' re-appearance so that the nation's fledging democracy would not be undermined.
A top member of the NPP who is a security expert is quoted as saying that the events preceding the 1979 insurrection and 1981 coup are not the same as today and so the now fatigued former airforce officer, for his own life, should not try it.
He indicated that the voting pattern in the country's military settlements even after various forays by Rawlings to cause disaffection against Kufuor and the NPP, showed that Rawlings is now out of fashion with the military.
The paper however says that the coup phobia still gripping sections of Ghana's body politic is not unfounded as Rawlings and his band of supporters continue to defy the 1993 Supreme Court ruling against the celebration of December 31 anniversary and observe it, and his insistence to keep to it and June 4 even out of power.
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The old order changeth
The Ghanaian Chronicle quotes the pledging words of President J.A. Kufuor at his swearing-in and says, with the solemn words, the historic political developments of the last four weeks came to a stupendous climax bringing in its wake wrenching changes in the political realm.
"A sense of fresh independence and great expectations from Ghanaians everywhere," it said. It said the change in the old order was also felt more dramatically in the Legislative House where Mr Peter Ala Adjetey took over from Justice D.F. Annan with strong reservations from the new minority, the NDC.
There was reported shaking of heads from some of the minority, who apparently dreaded the prospect of the tough and highly capable legal heavyweight and four-time president of the Ghana Bar Association, presiding over the affairs of the House.
The installation of President Kufuor, the paper says, also marked a turning point in the Governance and foreign policy direction of Ghana which had previously been guided by one man's whimsicalities.
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Women's Ministry
The President, Mr J.A. Kufuor, on Sunday firmly confirmed the establishment of a Ministry for Women's affairs and paid glowing tribute to Ghanaian women, sharing their pains and struggles with them and pledging to give more teeth to the Ghana Police Service embattled by decades of neglect.
President Kufuor is reported in a Chronicle front-page story to have stated during his inaugural address that he was going to take on the war to hunt down the serial murders that had plagued the nation's capital.
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We must feel proud for being Ghanaians - Kufuor
The President, Mr J.A. Kufuor, is reported by The Ghanaian Times as saying that Ghanaians, from his day of being swearing in as President, must learn to smile again, appreciate the good in each other and must feel proud of being Ghanaians.
Mr Kufuor who was delivering his inaugural address at the Independence Square in Accra called on Ghanaians to banish fear from their public and political lives.
"We should reward excellence and recognize hard work. We are a blessed people and with God's guidance, our smiles might even become laughter in the not too distant future," he stated.
President Kufuor stressed that the pride of Ghanaians would be even more justified when the economy was put on a sound footing and said that, "work should start today".
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New era dawns – as President Kufuor steps into office
The lead story of the Daily Graphic says Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, 63, was on Sunday sworn-in as the second President of the Fourth Republic at a colourful ceremony at the forecourt of Parliament House in Accra.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice I.K. Abban, administered the Presidential and Vice Presidential Oaths to Mr Kufuor and his vice, Alhaji Aliu Mahama before a large audience, which included Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, Abdulai Wade of Senegal and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.
Also present was South African Vice President, Jacob Zumah, as well as high powered representatives from Cote d’Ivoire, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.
After brief parliamentary inaugural activity that saw the election of a new Speaker and his two Deputies, the entire House relocated to the forecourt where security personnel found it difficult controlling the crowd present and cameramen covering the event.
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‘We’ll prosecute human-centred programmes’
President John Agyekum Kufuor stated on Sunday that the NPP government will, during the next four year, carry out human-centred programmes and policies to meet the rising expectations of the vast majority of the people.
He said the government has identified the genuine problems of the society and will strive to address and cushion the social demands of people and the economic requirements of the manufacturing and industrial sectors.
“It is imperative that our people see concrete evidence that democracy is more than sweet words. They should see that there is a difference in their lives, they need to be freed from poverty, hunger and disease and this should be done in conditions of freedom,” he said.
He indicated that under his administration, waste and corruption would be eradicated from the public life and assured the business community of his government’s preparedness to create the congenial atmosphere to encourage their operations in their bid to a generate more revenue for the nation as well as expand their activities to employ more people.
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Kufuor takes over
The Dispatch writes that in a solemn but colourful ceremony in Accra on Sunday, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor took the oath as the New President with Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, present as Special Guest of Honour.
The former President, referred to by the paper, as Kwashie Rawlings, at the event handed over power to Mr Kufuor, in his second handing over in 21 years.
It reports however that while the ceremony was going on, friends and relatives of some top government officials, many of them ministers, were putting finishing touches to efforts to hide some of the properties.
It said information that it gathered last Friday indicated that the brand new saloon vehicles used by many of the ministers were being sold to them for a tiny fraction of the market price.
It said many of the ministers were asked to rush and pay into an account named the Office of the President at one of the branches of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) in Accra before the close of business last Friday.
“Passat, Subaru Legacy and Toyota Corolla, whose market values range between 75 million and 90 million cedis were valued for some Ministers at between 7.5 million and 8.5 million cedis.
A number of Chief Directors complained to the paper that some ministers had asked them to delete certain properties from the handing over notes of their various ministries.
The Dispatch says as Mr Kufuor spends his first working day on Monday, one of the immediate issues he will have to resolve is the line between ‘witch-hunting’ and ‘implementing probity and accountability.’
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