Vice President John Dramani Mahama, dressed in white flowing “agbada”, also took the oath of office. He took the oath of the Vice President and the Oath of Allegiance. He also swore on the Bible. They then signed the oaths they swore. The ceremony took place at the Independence Square, which was turned into an open air Parliament. The function was attended by thousands of people from all walks of life.
Several West African Heads of State and dignitaries from several countries also attended the swearing-in.
Defeated presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo also attended the inauguration, a sign, the BBC’s Will Ross says, that Ghana has a relatively mature democracy. [ image 2]

Former president and NDC founder Jerry Rawlings (right) was also at the ceremony. He saw his former rival John Kufuor stand down as president after serving the maximum two terms. [image 3]

After he was sworn in, Mr Atta Mills raised up the State Sword – representing government authority – to cheers from the crowd. [image 4]

Out-going president Kuffour

President John Evans Atta Mills says the country has been ushered into a dawn of a new era of change for a better Ghana.

According to him, it is a change for a new direction based on consensus, fairness and equity which will inure to the benefit of the country.

He was speaking at his investiture at the Independence Square in Accra where the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, administered official oaths.

His Vice President, John Dramani Mahama was also sworn into office.

President John Evans Atta Mills called on all Ghanaians to put the just ended elections behind them in order to forge ahead in unity.

“There is no NDC Ghana, or NPP Ghana. We now have only one Ghana,” he noted, reiterating once more his desire to see a united Ghana since he was pronounced President.

He maintained there will be no room for political vendetta in his administration, adding his government will hit the road running to deliver on their electoral promises and national development.

He said his success or failure will be measured by his ability to deliver on his four cardinal promises of investing in people, job creation, improvement in infrastructure and open and honest government.

Source:
GNA

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate beat the ruling party’s Nana Akufo-Addo in a hotly contested poll by a margin of less than 0.5% of votes.

The incoming leader’s centre-right NDC has a slim parliamentary majority of 114 out of 230 seats, over the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 107.

President John Kufuor is standing down after serving the maximum two terms.

Mr Atta Mills is due to take office in the capital Accra in a ceremony expected to start at around 1100 GMT on Wednesday.

On the eve of the inauguration, President Kufuor showed his successor around his new home, the presidential residence officially known as Jubilee House.

Ghana’s incoming leader, who had lost two previous elections to Mr Kufuor, has pledged to be “a president for all”.

Mr Akufo-Addo won the first round but not by enough to avoid an inconclusive run-off in last month’s knife-edge polls.

Mr Atta Mills was finally declared the winner on Saturday after a re-run of voting in the rural constituency of Tain, which was boycotted by the NPP.

Despite allegations of multiple voting and intimidation from both sides, electoral officials found no evidence of foul play and monitors praised Ghana’s poll as a democratic example to others.

The stakes were raised further in the election by Ghana’s recent discovery of crude oil, with production due to start in late 2010.

Turnout was high for Ghana’s fifth set of polls since it embraced multi-party democracy in 1992.

The former British colony was the first African state to gain its independence in 1957.

A nation of 22 million people, it is the world’s second biggest cocoa grower and Africa’s number two gold miner.

Sources: BBCNews

“Ladies and gentlemen on the basis of the official results given, it is my duty to declare Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, as the President-Elect of Ghana,” Dr, Afari-Gyan declared at a press conference to officially announce the winner of Election 2008.

On allegation that votes was deducted from or added to the number of votes obtained by either the NPP or NDC in Ashanti or Volta Region, Dr Afari-Gyan debunked the allegation, saying “nothing was added or deducted”. He said after careful examination of materials submitted by the two political parties – NDC and NPP and the nature of evidence provided to support their claims; the EC noted that the NDC failed to submit complete set of polling-station-by-polling station declaration results forms to enable a re-examination of the collated figures for the constituencies in Ashanti that they had complained about.

In respect of the materials submitted by the NPP in the nature of evidence, Dr Afari-Gyan said the Commission found out that; some of the issues raised bothered on criminality and, therefore, fell outside the competence of the EC.

“In the purely electoral matters, the Commission did not find the evidence provided to be sufficient to invalidate the results. “In view of these findings about the complaints of the two parties, the results as previously tallied from the 229 constituencies remain unchanged.accordingly the results of the runoff in the Tain constituency, which was held on January 2 2009, have been added to the national tally,” Dr Afari-Gyan stated.

The EC Chairman was flanked by Mr David Adeenze-Kanga, Deputy Chairman in-Charge of Finance and Administration; Mr Kwadwo Sarfo-Kantanka, Deputy Chairman in Charge of Operations and other Commissions members and directors. Dr Afari-Gyan descried the process leading to the final declaration of the President-Elect as long and arduous, “but by God’s grace we have finally arrived”. He commended Prof. Mills and Nana Akufo-Addo for personally conducting themselves all along in a manner befitting the high office that they sought.

Officials and supporters of the NDC, who thronged the EC premises to witness the official declaration burst into wild cheers as the EC Chairman declared Prof. Mills the winner.

Accra, Jan. 3, GNA – The following is the profile of Professor John Evans Atta Mills, President-Elect of the Republic of Ghana as provided by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

Date of Birth: 21st July 1944

Place of Birth: Tarkwa, Western Region

Family: Married to Ernestina Naadu Mills (nee Botchway),an

Educationist.

Prof. Mills has a son.

Education

* Achimota School: ‘O’ & ‘A’ Levels 1957-1963

* University of Ghana, Faculty of Law, Legon, LL.B 1963- 1966

* Ghana Law School: Professional Certificate in Law 1967

* London School of Economics: LL.M 1968

* University of London: Ph.D 1971

Work Experience

* University of Ghana, Faculty of Law: Associate Professor 1971-1996

* Acting Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service 1988-1996

* Visiting Scholar, Liu Centre for the Study of Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Canada 2002

Special Appointments

* Member of Commonwealth Administration of Tax Experts

* Member of United Nations Ad Hoc Group of Experts in International Cooperation in Tax Matters

* Member of the United Nations Law and Population Project

Political Career

* Vice President of the Republic 1997-2001

* NDC Presidential Candidate 2000 and 2004

Source: myjoyonline.com