Today, Ghana is endorsing her democratic pedigree as President-Elect Akufo-Addo and his running mate, both managers of the previous administration, are sworn into office.
The two personalities have been deservedly given as the President-Elect said in his State of the Nation Address on Tuesday ‘a clear mandate’ to run the affairs of this country for the next four years.
The contest for the mandate was dotted with a large dose of infractions as the President-Elect’s main contender, a former President, ignored decency and decorum in his campaign efforts.
Worried watchers of the development as it was perpetrated under the aegis of the former President and his uninformed supporters wondered whether Ghana was on the verge of losing her enviable status as a haven of peace and democracy.
In spite of the below-belt tactics employed during the campaign season, the President-Elect as it is expressed in local parlance ‘maintained his cool’ hardly referring to the deliberately cooked incidents by his opponent. On one occasion, he poignantly pointed out that he does not have to engage in undesirable tactics to win the mandate of his compatriots.
He was right because his track record and commitment to the cause of the Ghanaian project under a refined election management regime was enough to win the day.
Ghanaians clearly spoke in his favour. Today, as the country ushers in a new political administration, the world watches in admiration. Today’s constitutional procedure is a seamless activity, because an outgoing President is handing over to himself, his compatriots having given him the nod to do so under the dictates of the country’s magna carta, the Constitution.
We are excited that in spite of the efforts of our compatriots on the other side of the political aisle to make the country ungovernable by employing ‘overt and covert’ means to achieve the nasty goal, the good people of this country always abhorring such situations insisted on peace.
With the campaign season now over and the critical democratic process of elections behind us, it behooves all bona fide citizens to join in the task of pushing the cart towards the Promised Land of consistent development and growth.
It is painful to lose an election, more so one in which so-called prophets have given assurance of victory to the loser. That, nonetheless, should not be the reason why we should burn tyres and push the country to the precipice. Ghana does not deserve this because she has nurtured to where we are today.
After trying the street demonstrations, most of them violent, it is heartwarming that the sponsor of the inappropriate conduct has wittily turned to the Supreme Court.
Had he done so earlier he would have successfully managed to salvage some deference for himself.
The protection of our institutions and the maintenance of law and order depend upon how much we support the rule of law.
Today’s beautiful ceremony is taking place because of the prevalent peace in the country. We can consistently savour such spectacles when we sincerely commit ourselves to the respect and upholding of the rule of law and differentiate ourselves from the uncivilised.
We wish the President and the Vice President a wonderful and a productive tenure.