All too soon...

Yesterday President Kufuor delivered his final State of the Nation Address. It was a stock-taking as well as a farewell message, but above all it was a vindication of democracy.

After serving his two terms as mandated by the constitution, he is making way. No quarrel, no confusion, because he did not tamper with the constitution to extend his stay.

He has respected the rules and will leave the presidency on January 7 2009 to a successor who would be from his party or another party. Ghana's democracy and national stability will be enhanced because there would be no reason for any “boom!”

The booms often come when one person or group try to get entrenched for an indeterminate period by either tampering with the constitution or rigging the electoral process. We have our constitution and electoral system intact. President Kufuor leaves them as he saw them when he assumed office 7 years ago. That to us is a great legacy that would ensure a smooth transition to the next administration.

The president gave an account of his government's achievements these past seven years and in his own words, “on balance, Ghana did well under my watch.” And as he himself put it in his concluding remarks, there is still more to be done and humanity never quite finishes its work.

All too soon, as the saying goes, the Kufuor era is winding down and the rest would soon be left to the judgement of history.