ACCRA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ghama's new parliament was sworn in here early Monday, hours before a scheduled ceremony to install John Dramani Mahama as the country's new president.
At 12:00 midnight, the police band sounded the Last Post to signify the end of the road for the fifth parliament which had 177 members re-elected into the new house.
The new parliament, the sixth for the Fourth Republic of Ghana, has 275 members, 45 more than the fifth parliament.
Clerk of parliament Emmanuel Anyimadu then opened nominations for the position of Speaker, and Edward Doe-Adjaho from the Avenor-Ave in the Volta Region was the only one proposed, and thus got elected unopposed.
Adjaho urged members of the parliament to stay united and work in concerted efforts to get business done.
"I will discharge the duties of this house with discipline, humility, diligence, maturity and sincerity," said Adjaho, who first entered parliament in January 1993 and has held onto his parliamentary seat since then.
The new speaker pledged to deepen the practice of parliamentary democracy in Ghana, adding that he would do so by ensuring a bipartisan approach to all matters of national interest, while being fair in all matters.
Adjaho is the first ever parliament speaker elected from seating lawmakers under the fourth republic. On accepting the third highest position in the country, he must give up his parliamentary seat.
Former Deputy Attorney General, Ebo Barton Oduro was elected first deputy speaker, while former Attorney General under the New Patriotic Party government Joe Ghartey got elected as the second deputy speaker.
Outgoing Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Benjamin Kumbuor, was pronounced Majority Leader while MP for Ashaiman, Alfred Kwame Agbesi, became the Deputy Majority Leader.
ACCRA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama in a state of the nation address to parliament here Friday called on all Ghanaians to forge ahead in unity.
While appraising the country's collective achievements over the past four years, Mahama, who won the December 7 presidential election on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), reminded Ghanaians of the hard work that lay ahead of them. Full story
ACCRA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday to challenge the validity of the presidential results of the recent elections.
Ghana's incumbent President John Dramani Mahama was declared winner of 2012 presidential polls with 50.7 percent vote by Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) Kwadwo Afari-Gyan on Dec. 9, while his closest challenger, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP, got 47. 7 percent. Full story
