President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, will be the special guest of honour at the inauguration of president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo’s government on Saturday, January 7, 2017.
According to the NPP, over 11 heads of states from other countries, as well as 13 other government representatives and multinationals, are also expected to grace the event which will be held at the Black Star Square in Accra.
Addressing the press on preparations for the upcoming inauguration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Co-chairperson of the inauguration subcommittee of the Transition Team, said preparations are far advanced for hosting the numerous dignitaries in the country.
“We will be receiving about 11 heads of states and governments, two vice presidents, 13 government representatives, five international representatives of multilateral organizations, and a number of ex-presidents from West Africa and other parts of the world. Let me add that this is not expected to be the final figure; we will have a final figure about 24 hours to the event,” she noted.
Guest of honour
Ayorkor Botchway also disclosed that, presidents from other African countries including Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Togo, Benin, Gabon, Zambia have all confirmed their attendance at the event.
“Also, we will have prime ministers from Ethiopia and a couple of other countries,” she noted.
January 7 preparation about 80% complete
President John Mahama’s second term bid was halted by the New Patriotic Party’s Nana Akufo-Addo following his defeat in the December 7 polls, and is expected to hand over power to the latter on January 7.
According to the spokesperson of the NPP on the Transition Team, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, about 80 percent of the work pertaining to Saturday’s inauguration ceremony has been completed.
He earlier told Citi News that “we are done with about 80 percent of everything we need to do.”
He also revealed at the news conference that about 5,000 security personnel are expected to be deployed for the event.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Sixtus Don Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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