Chuks Okocha
5 January 2009
Abuja — Torrents of accolades have continued to trail Ghana's successful transitory elections which climaxed with Friday's declaration of 64-year old Professor John Evans Atta Mills as President-elect.
The new president is scheduled to be inaugurated on Wednesday, January 7.
Among groups and politicians that have hailed Ghanaians are the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Human Rights Groups and a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, Chief Sunny Iroche. In their separate reactions, they commended the sister West African of Nigeria for successfully holding its fifth consecutive fair and transparent general elections since 1992.
The CNPP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said: "We salute Ghanaians for their exemplary, principled stand and unwavering commitment in upholding the sanctity of the ballot box, thus making their votes count, in the midst of a close election."
The conference added: "Our commendation also goes to the Judiciary in Ghana for serving the cause of justice, upholding the independence of the judiciary, the doctrine of separation of powers and resisting the temptation of the National Patriotic Party (NPP) to collaborate in truncating the election."
The CNPP was also full of praise for the out-going president, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor. "We cannot forget the statesmanlike and noble role played by President John Kufuor in keeping his head above waters, refusing to manipulate the elections or allowing himself to be swayed in the face of his party's defeat." They recommended President Kufuor for Mo Ibrahim award for good governance.
The CNPP described the Ghanaian historic democratic growth as "a memorable lesson to democratic pretenders like Nigeria, where democracy is vanishing, where the electoral commission is a department of the executive, where the judiciary is manipulated and political culture of do-or-die reigns".
According to the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), in a statement signed by Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, Ghanaians especially the outgoing President deserve commendations for overseeing a general election that has been internationally acclaimed as free, fair and peaceful. HURIWA said it was quite remarkable that Ghana's recent presidential election witnessed the emergence of an opposition politician as winner while the ruling party's candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, accepted defeat.
The rights group called on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to immediately set workable machinery in motion to implement the salient and strategic aspects of the recommendations of the Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee.
Along this line, it stressed the need for the strengthening and granting of true independence to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the sack of its incumbent chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu and other board members of the commission.
HURIWA argued that the continued stay in office of Iwu and his commissioners would sustain partiality and the kind of irregularities witnessed in the 2007 controversial polls in Nigeria.
In his own response, Iroche, who is also a banker, commended the Electoral Commission of Ghana while describing the successful election as a manifestation of the maturity of the electoral body. He called on INEC to emulate what its counterpart in Ghana has achieved.
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Good for Ghana and hopefully for the rest of Africa. If an African country, such as Ghana, can hold free and fair elections and have a smooth transfer of power why can't other African countries do the same ? There are multiple ethnicities and kingdoms in Ghana too, just as it is the case with many other African countries.
Africans are tired of excuses that somehow seem to suggest that African countries are not capable of democratic rule - to the absurd extent that they cannot even free and fair elections!
Let this be a lesson to the rest of… [Read Full Text]
I am very happy but also sad why can't order African countries cant do the same???????????This should be a big lesson for all the African countries but we are tired and sick of thier tricks.God bless us all.
I don't know anything about any African Country apart from Nigeria(My home Country). I have spent an equal number of years in Nigeria and the US where I am today. One thing is clear:There may be a higher level of intolerance for electoral corruption in Ghana and the United States than attains in Nigeria. This may be due to the fact that we have a large number of very poor people in Nigeria than in Ghana or the United States of America. There was a time I was tempted to suggest that it… [Read Full Text]
Because Ghana is one of the few African countries that values freedom over stability. It is not possible to have both, and anyone who tells you otherwise (Marxists) is trying to dupe you into slavery.
Congratulations to the people and leadership of Ghana! This is a good indication that democracy can and must prevail in power devolution processes, anywhere in Africa. Governments facing upcoming elections in Senegal and elsewhere in Africa must follow suit and recognize the right of their people to choose their own leaders.
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Active Discussions: Atta Mills Formally Declared Election Winner