Six West African Heads of State expected for swearing-in

Accra, Jan. 5, GNA - Six West African heads of state are expected in Accra on Friday to participate in the swearing-in of President John Agyekum Kufuor for a second tenure of office.

In an interview on telephone with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Wednesday, Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Press Secretary to the President, said among the Heads of State is the Chairman of the African Union (AU) Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said others expected were President Mathieu Kerekou of Benin, President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone and President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali.

Mr Agyepong, who is also the Presidential Spokesman, said also expected was former Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida, Mr Charles Gyude Bryant, Chairman of the Interim Government in Liberia and about five State Governors from Nigeria.

President Kufuor during the swearing-in would have his name printed in Ghana's history as the first President to win elections as an opposition candidate and receive a second four-year term mandate. He won 52.45 per cent of the votes in the December 7 election. On January 7,2001, his first tenure in office began when he was sworn in as the fifth President of Ghana.

Two years later on January 31 at the 26th Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held in Dakar, Senegal, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the sub-regional body for a one-year term to succeed President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal. His mandate as ECOWAS chairman was renewed for another year to end in 2005. 05 Jan. 05