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General Information
and the Fourth Republic was founded. On that day,
Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was installed as Presi-
dent, and members of Parliament were sworn into
office. In 1996, the opposition fully participated in
presidential and parliamentary elections, which were
described as peaceful, free, and transparent by do-
mestic and international observers. In that election,
President Rawlings was re-elected with 57% of the
popular vote. In addition, Rawlings’ NDC party won
133 of the Parliament 200 seats, just one seat short
of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Con-
stitution.
In the December 2000 elections, John A. Kufuor of
the New Patriotic Party (NPP), won the largest share
of the presidential vote with 48.17%, compared to
44.54% for Rawlings vice-president and handpicked
successor, John Atta Mills of the NDC. The NPP
also won 100 of the 200 seats in Parliament. The
NDC won 92 seats, while independent and small
party candidates won eight seats. In the December
28 run-off election, with pledges of support from the
other five opposition parties, Kufuor defeated Mills
by winning 56.73% of vote and the NPP picked up
one additional MP by winning a by-election, giving
them 101 seats and a majority in Parliament. Both
rounds of the election were observed, and declared
free and fair by a large contingent of domestic and
international monitors. President Kufuor was sworn
into office on January 7, 2001, becoming the first
elected president in Ghana’s history to succeed an-
other elected president. In December 2008, John
Atta Mills, member of the social democratic party,
was finally elected president with 50.23% of vote. In
Ghana, the president is both the Chief of State and
the Head of Government.
National Symbols
The National Anthem
God bless our homeland Ghana
And make our nation great and strong,
Bold to defend forever
The cause of Freedom and of Right;
Fill our hearts with true humility,
Make us cherish fearless honesty,
And help us to resist oppressors’ rule
With all our will and might for evermore.
Hail to thy name, O Ghana,
To thee we make our solemn vow:
Steadfast to build together
A nation strong in Unity;
With our gifts of mind and strength of arm,
Whether night or day, in the midst of storm,
In ev’ry need, whate’er the call may be,
To serve thee, Ghana, now and evermore.
Raise high the flag of Ghana
And one with Africa advance;
Black star of hope and honour
To all who thirst for liberty;
Where the banner of Ghana freely flies,
May the way to freedom truly lie;
Arise, arise, O sons of Ghanaland,
And under God march on for evermore!
Flag
While Ghana was a member of the Union of African
State between 1958 and 1962, its flag used to in-
clude two and then three stars. The two other stars,
which have now disappeared, represented Guinea
and Mali, as the two other members of the union.
Green, yellow and red are known as the pan-African
colours and are used in a number of African flags
as representing the bloodshed for liberation, the gold
and the natural resources of Africa.
Coat of Arms
Two days before Independence, the National Em-
blem was created by Ghanaian Mr. Amon Kotei and
officially inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II. Two
fearsome golden eagles adorned with the colours of
Ghana and the African black star of liberty appear as