I’m humbled majority of Ghanaians renewed my mandate - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that he has been humbled by the renewal of his mandate to continue his second and final term as President by the decisive majority of Ghanaians.

He said the renewal of his mandate places a grave responsibility on him, adding that in such occasions the best that one could say and do was to give off their best guided by the almighty God and the teachings of holy scripture as a Christian.

President Akufo-Addo made this statement when the Chairman and members of the Seventh Council of State of the Republic presented their third and final report to him at the Jubilee House in Accra today (December 30, 2020).

The 49-page report submitted by the Nana Otuo Siriboe II led-council covers the period between March 2019 and December 2020.

It has an executive summary, a section one which is about where the council derives its mandate, a section two that deals with the modus operandi of the council and the third section that covers the activities of the council. Sections five deals with conclusions and projections and section five has the appendix of the report.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with some members of the Council of State after their last meeting for the year at the Jubilee House. Picture: Samuel Tei Adano

Election

Touching on his re-election, President Akufo-Addo noted that the decisive renewal of his mandate places more responsibility to do the best that he could.

“That is the assurance that I want to give you and the people of Ghana that I will continue to discharge my functions to the very best of my abilities and I hope in so doing, I will fulfil the expectations of the Ghanaian people,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Commendation

President Akufo-Addo thanked the council members very much “not only for the quality of work that the council has exhibited in these four years but also to the fidelity with which you have carried out your duty and your oath as members of the council of state”.

He explained that there had never been a moment that he sought the advice, the views, the import of the council of state that he found any hesitation on their part or inability to assist him.

“I am extremely lucky as President that I have been very lucky in the way this council of state interacted with me and the Presidency. I am therefore extremely grateful for the cooperation that the council has given,” the President stated.

Report

Receiving the report, he said he had read assiduously the previous report and assured that he would do the same to the third one which continues to contain many suggestions that could improve the governance of the country.

President Akufo-Addo expressed the belief that it was the principal role of the council to suggest to the various arms of government and institutions of the country measures, policies and programmes that can improve the quality of governance of the country, noting that “as far as I am concerned, you have fulfilled your functions admirably”.

“I will like to put on record that the work of this council has been excellent and the people have had their full monies worth your presence in the structure and the institutional makeup of our state and the in the way you have approached your work.

New Council

President Akufo-Addo hinted that when things settled down, he would be constituting a new council and some of the old members might be retained although some of the appointments depend on elections.

“I will not find it amiss at all if several of you were to reappear in the new council that was to become. I will find that reassuring,” he said.

Council of State membership

The Council of State is a twenty-five member body. Its membership as provided for by Article 89(2) of the 1992 Constitution consists of;

(a) One person who has previously held the office of:
i. Chief Justice;
ii. Chief of the Defense Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces;
iii. Inspector General of Police,

(b) The President of the National House of Chiefs

(c) One representative from each region of Ghana elected, in accordance with regulations made by the Electoral Commission under Article 51 of the 1992 Constitution, by an electoral college comprising two representatives from each of the districts in the region nominated by the District Assemblies in the regions;

(d) Eleven (11) members appointed by the President.

The Council is led by a Chairman who is elected from among its members.