Smooth swearing in of President Mahama inspires investor confidence – CEPA
The Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA) says the speedy swearing in of Mr John Dramani Mahama as President of Ghana, following the demise of Prof John Atta Mills, will help inspire investor confidence in the national economy.
The Executive Secretary of CEPA, Dr Joe Abbey, told the Daily Graphic that the country’s strict compliance to the provision of the 1992 Constitution on the death of a sitting president “will help assure the world that all is still well with our economy despite the shock.”
“I am impressed with the way and manner in which the Vice-President was immediately sworn in following President Mills’ death. It tells the world who we are as a people, and I think all Ghanaians should be proud of that,” Dr Abbey said.
Then Vice President Mahama was sworn into office as president of Ghana at exactly 22:15 GMT – about six hours into the death of President Mills.
The swearing in of Mr Mahama as President is in compliance with Article 60 (6) of the 1992 Constitution which requires that the vice president be sworn in as president upon the death of a sitting president.
Dr Abbey also said he expected the new president to continue with the economic stability that President Mills was pursuing prior to his death on Tuesday afternoon.
On the impact of President Mills’ death on the business community, the CEPA Executive Secretary said: “The very fact that Ghana stayed within the constitution and immediately sworn in the Vice-President to take over, should assure the investor community and the world that the economic policies and stability that Prof Mills stood for will be continued”.
“It is another plus for Ghana,” he said.
He mentioned the phased implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), current stability in the national economy, following an economic stabilisation programme agreed by President Mills and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as some of the “building blocks that the late President laid for the economy”.
“He stood his grounds and undertook tough economic policies that have yielded results in the area of stability in the country,” Dr Abbey said.
“His decision to hold back some of his election campaign promises after he was properly briefed on the state of the economy in 2009 is really impressive. That was a tough decision to take, but he took for the benefit of the country,” Dr Abbey said.
It was under President Mills’ tenure as president, that annual inflation witnessed a consistent decline for more than two years, leading to a steady slowdown in interest rates and a rebound in investor confidence in the country, he stated.
He is also credited with numerous infrastructural developments including the commencement of two universities in the Central and Volta region, schools and hospitals throughout the country.
“I think he did his best. He was committed to economic stability, creating a conducive business climate for investment, and laying the building blocks for the country to take off,” he said.
However sad his demise might have been, Dr Abbey said his legacies in the economic front “will help us remember him always.”
Prof Mills became president of Ghana in 2009 and died in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 24 – three and half years into his first tenure. He is the first president of Ghana, to have died while in power.
Source: Daily Graphic