In Ghana, members of President John Dramani Mahama’s transition team meet for the first time Friday to prepare for his Jan. 7, inauguration to his first full four-year term.
The law setting up the transition team was passed earlier this year and it details the procedures for swearing in the new presidential administration.
The bill stipulates that the incumbent government should give the transition team a status report on its various ministries prior to the inauguration ceremonies.
Mr. Mahama won his four year presidential term in balloting last week. He had been serving out the term of the late president, John Evans Atta-Mills.
Analysts say formation of the transition team was needed to satisfy the requirements of the new law even though the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) remains in power.
President-elect Mahama named a list of Ghanaians to form the transition team after nominating vice president Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur as chairman of the group.
“The president charmingly told us that we were eminent Ghanaians and people that Ghanaians trust. That is why he picked us to be members of the transition team,” said one team member, Agyeman Badu Akosa.
“The transition team is made up of statutory officers of government, which includes some ministers, head of civil service, cabinet secretary, president’s secretary, national security coordinator and advisor [among others],” Akosa said.
Akosa, the former presidential candidate for the opposition Convention People’s Party (CPP), says the team will discuss the formation of sub-committees as part of the process to prepare for the inauguration.
“It’s going to be a steep learning curve, because we’ve got a very short time before the inauguration, and we should work pretty fast to get everything ready for the inauguration,” he said.
“What Ghanaians should expect is a smooth inauguration ceremony and a smooth handing over of government machinery to the president-elect and his team,” Akosa added.
The main opposition New Patriotic Party has indicated it will legally challenge the outcome of last Friday’s presidential vote and cited what it said were instances of voting irregularities.
Some Ghanaians have questioned the formation of the transition team since the opposition plans to challenge the outcome of the vote.
“As far as we are concerned, we are not subjected to the court process, and therefore we will get our work done until such time that the court decides, yes or no,” said Akosa.
The law setting up the transition team was passed earlier this year and it details the procedures for swearing in the new presidential administration.
The bill stipulates that the incumbent government should give the transition team a status report on its various ministries prior to the inauguration ceremonies.
Mr. Mahama won his four year presidential term in balloting last week. He had been serving out the term of the late president, John Evans Atta-Mills.
Analysts say formation of the transition team was needed to satisfy the requirements of the new law even though the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) remains in power.
President-elect Mahama named a list of Ghanaians to form the transition team after nominating vice president Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur as chairman of the group.
“The president charmingly told us that we were eminent Ghanaians and people that Ghanaians trust. That is why he picked us to be members of the transition team,” said one team member, Agyeman Badu Akosa.
“The transition team is made up of statutory officers of government, which includes some ministers, head of civil service, cabinet secretary, president’s secretary, national security coordinator and advisor [among others],” Akosa said.
Akosa, the former presidential candidate for the opposition Convention People’s Party (CPP), says the team will discuss the formation of sub-committees as part of the process to prepare for the inauguration.
“It’s going to be a steep learning curve, because we’ve got a very short time before the inauguration, and we should work pretty fast to get everything ready for the inauguration,” he said.
“What Ghanaians should expect is a smooth inauguration ceremony and a smooth handing over of government machinery to the president-elect and his team,” Akosa added.
The main opposition New Patriotic Party has indicated it will legally challenge the outcome of last Friday’s presidential vote and cited what it said were instances of voting irregularities.
Some Ghanaians have questioned the formation of the transition team since the opposition plans to challenge the outcome of the vote.
“As far as we are concerned, we are not subjected to the court process, and therefore we will get our work done until such time that the court decides, yes or no,” said Akosa.
