When he gets sworn in today as Ghana’s new head of state, Professor John Evans Atta Mills will become the country’s third democratically elected president to hold the office in less than 10 years and the second one to enjoy a smooth transfer of power. For a formerly coup prone and politically unstable country, the transformation is quite impressive. Mr Atta Mills aged 64, an opposition candidate standing for the National Democratic Convention (NDC) defeated by a very short margin, his rival Nana Akufo-Ado, also aged 64 and the flag-bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Mr Akufo Ado conceded defeat and congratulated his rival, then called on his supporters to remain calm. Despite his own reservations about his rival’s victory and the electoral process, the NPP candidate requested his supporters not to use violence, saying he would rather go through a legal process. It was not an easy decision to make for him but he made it after a highly fought election and where the winner’s victory was through a very tight margin. But he did it, though some say he only conceded defeat pressurized by the outgoing president John Kufuor. Mr Kufuor, who came to power in 2001, ended his two legal terms totalling eight years in power. He was not running at this election. He thus followed on the footsteps of his predecessor Jerry Rawlings who handed over to him in another peaceful transition eight years ago. Although an army officer who came to power twice in Ghana through military coups (for four months in 1979 and then back from 1981 to 1993), former President Jerry Rawlings embraced democracy in the early 90’s to be elected as the first president of Ghana’s 4th Republic. He also played a major role in institutionalising democratic governance in the country. As such, Mr Rawlings is considered by some as the “father” of the new Ghana as he accepted the introduction of democracy and of the new constitution voted in 1992 under his tenure. He surprised his world when in 2000 he accepted to quit after completing his two legal terms under the new constitution. More important still he did not try to illegally favour his party when came the time for new elections, and he thus allowed a regime change, his NDC was defeated by the NPP. Amidst the turmoil and chaos now reigning in West Africa and elsewhere in the continent, due to continued and violent power struggles and a resurgence of military coups, the Ghanaian case is worth mentioning and the successive leaders Ghana has had at its head worth commending. They were indeed all commended by the international community, together with the Ghanaian people, after the last elections. This is not to say Ghana‘s democratic model is perfect and Ghana’s constitution is the best. It simply means Ghana’s leaders and the people of Ghana are all accepting to play by the rules of the game they have set up for themselves, however “imperfect” or “unfair” these rules may appear to some of them. Put in simple words, it can be trivially summed up like this, “you come, you serve and you go”. Thanks to this, Ghana can pride itself to be hosting at least two former heads of states, who don’t need to leave in exile and who do not need to flee their home country or to hide anywhere else because they are hunted by some international courts. One would wonder: why Ghana did it where most of its neighbours cannot? This is not an easy question to answer as too many factors come into play. Let’s start with John Kufuor. It is only in his very last address to the nation that he made public remarks about the “imperfections” of the constitution and the electoral system under which he was elected and which, he now suggests, need to be reviewed. A couple of points he raised in this final address as Ghana’s president, can illustrate his sense of leadership and his sense of defending the general interest, rather than his own presidential privileges. The first point has to do with the duration of the presidential mandate, an issue which has caused political tensions elsewhere and even violence and deaths in some countries. Source: Daily Nation, Kenya