Before the trumpets sound at President-elect Obama's inauguration on 20 January, there is another presidential inauguration happening today that is worthy of equally great celebration: the inauguration of Ghana's new President, John Atta Mills.
This was Ghana's fifth consecutive democratic poll, and the country has now had two peaceful transitions from one party to another. Jerry Rawlings won the 1992 and 1996 polls and then retired on time (another reason to celebrate!). John Kufuor, at the time the leader of the opposition NPP, then beat Mills of the NDC in December 2000, and again in 2004. Now the presidency has swung back to Mills and his NDC. This is all pretty impressive and suggests that Ghana is once again the continent’s trailblazer.Three cheers for democracy in Ghana!