Ghana: Kufuor's inheritance

C 0 U NT R Y F I L E

GHANA

As Ghana's fourth President, John Agyekum Kufuor took the oath of office at a colourful ceremony in Accra early last month, there was an inescapable sense of irony that it has taken Africa's first independent state 44 years to vote out one government and vote

Important onlookers at this historical event included Nigeria's Olasegun Obasanjo, Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade, Burkina Faso's Blaise Campaore, Togo's Gnassingbe Eyadema, South Africa's Vice President, Jacob Zuma and former Nigerian leader, Gen. Abdulsalam Abukakar. Conspicuously absent from the ceremony were former Head of State, Jerry Rawlings and his former Vice President, John Atta Mills.

Forgive, not forget

Kufuor, resplendent in flowing Kente cloth made by traditional weavers from his home region of Ashanti, struck a Nelson Mandela like pose when he stated that although the wrongs committed in the past could not be brushed away, they could be forgiven.