President hails Ghana's democracy in re-election speech

President John Kufuor accepted his re-election as leader of Ghana today, congratulating citizens in Africa’s first independent nation on the largely peaceful balloting and calling the nation a “beacon of democracy”.

“I accept the endorsement of the people of Ghana with thanks and humility and I thank God for being with me and the whole nation of Ghana,” Kufuor said in an acceptance speech broadcast on state radio.

Kufuor, whose 2000 election victory marked Ghana’s first-ever democratic transfer of power, took 53% of the west African nation’s vote on Tuesday, electoral officials announced late yesterday.

A few small scuffles aside, the vote came off without major incident and West African election observers certified it as “transparent and in good order”.

“With a single mind, the nation has concluded a vigorously contested presidential and parliamentary election, which despite some unfortunate incidents in a few areas has been very free and fair and peaceful throughout the country,” said Kufuor.

Turnout was a staggering 83.2% among roughly 10 million eligible voters in a nation that prides itself on leading the way for a new generation of maturing African democracies.

“The nation has demonstrated its commitment to democratic governance, and furthermore it has proven itself to the whole world as mature and united to be the beacon of democracy,” said Kufuor.

Kufuor told Ghanaians he hoped to spark greater economic growth and vowed to fight corruption with “all weapons” during his next four-year term. His inauguration is planned for January 7.

Kufuor offered thanks to his strongest challenger, John Atta Mills, who took 44% of the ballot.

“Henceforth, it is my hope and desire that we all can work together to build our nation,” said Kufuor – an Oxford-trained lawyer Ghanaians call the Gentle Giant.

Kufuor rode high on his popularity for maintaining peace and democratic gains and for nudging along the economy of the world’s No. 2 cocoa producer and leading gold producer.

He defeated Mills in 2000 in a race that marked the first democratic transfer of power in Ghana, a former British colony that in 1957 became the first holding in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence.

Mills had been the chosen candidate of Jerry Rawlings, a charismatic former flight lieutenant who seized power in a 1981 coup, capping over a decade of rule by military big men who drove Ghana’s economy into the ground.

Rawlings won fair elections in 1992 and 1996, beating Kufuor in the latter race.

Kufuor, who has been active in peace negotiations for nearby Liberia and Ivory Coast, urged leaders in a region where coups are still common to advance democratic practices in their own nations.

“My advice to my fellow leaders in Africa, especially in our sub-region, is that we should organise ourselves constitutionally so that all the people are given voice as to how they’re governed,” he said.