Ghana: Swift Transition to New Leadership

Ghana’s new president has been sworn in just hours after the death of his predecessor John Atta Mills. Elizabeth Ohene, a journalist, and a former government minister in Ghana explains how the country has managed to stay on an even keel throughout the transition.

“It was so smooth it was as though we had practice in it,” Ohene says. “It told me that our democracy must be healthier than some of us had dared hope.”

She adds, “We have decided that we would much rather stick with trying out the constitutional form of government, rather than allow any liberators or saviors to take our destiny in their hands again.”