The U.S inauguration from a Ghanaian eye

President John Mahama is sworn in by Chief Justice Georgina Wood

I missed the opportunity to cover this month’s inauguration in Ghana because I arrived in the United States the very day Ghana’s new President John Mahama was being sworn in. It would have been my first inauguration.

Indeed, Mahama was sworn in and the event was over by the time I stepped out of the plane. Ghana is ahead of D.C. by five hours. I arrived here at 10:45 a.m., and it was 1:35 p.m. in Accra, the capital.  By that time Mahama had left Independence Square, the venue for Ghana’s event.

I missed the opportunity in 2009 because I was in Kumasi, Ghana’s second city, gathering reactions from residents on then President John Mills’ inauguration.

I was, however, lucky to cover President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. 

I have watched and followed inaugurations in Ghana since 1992 when the country returned to constitutional rule. I have followed U.S. inaugurations during same periods, too. There are quite a few differences. More than 1.2 million people gathered on the Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House in 2009 to watch history unfold as the first black president of U.S. was sworn in. Even though that number dropped for his second swearing in, the crowd this week was significant enough.

By law, elections are held in the U.S on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the president is sworn in Jan. 20. This was pushed from March after the 20^th Amendment to the Constitution. This is unlike Ghana, where the constitution mandates that the election take place Dec. 7 and the president be sworn in Jan. 7.

 President Barack Obama makes his inaugural address

In the United States, the inauguration is a big deal. Even though the U.S. Constitution does not bar presidents from being sworn in on a Sunday, six presidents before Obama deferred their public swearing-in ceremonies to Monday when Jan. 20 fell on a Sunday, and Obama was not going to change that. So the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the committee appointed by the U.S. Congress to plan the ceremony, decided to hold the public ceremony on Monday. Obama had the private swearing-in at the White House on Sunday. The joint congressional committee begins planning before the election, so the president usually has little to do with planning the ceremony, even though he could.

There is also the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which is private, and raises money to pay for its events. It is responsible for organizing the inaugural parade – along with a military committee – presidential balls and other celebrations. The joint congressional committee sponsors only the public swearing in, while the PIC organizes the other events. Four years ago, Obama attended 10 balls, but this year he attended only two.

In Ghana inaugurations have been held Jan. 7 since 1992, regardless of which day of the week it falls. It has never been rescheduled for any reasons. The committee that arranges the inauguration is usually set up by the president after winning the elections. There are no official balls.

One thing is common, though; people troop in their numbers whether to the Capitol or Independence Square.

Vice President Joe Biden is sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor

One other common thing is the use of the Bible at inaugurations. In Ghana, the president and his vice president have the opportunity to use the Bible or the Koran to be sworn in. The only person in the history of the 1992 constitution to have used a Koran was the late former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama in 2001 and 2005. U.S presidents are noted for using historical Bibles for their swearing-in ceremonies. In 2009, Obama used the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used. This year, he used both the Lincoln Bible and Martin Luther King Jr.’s family Bible at the public ceremony. The King family Bible is the one that King used for his first sermon at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where he was pastor in 1950. The president in Ghana holds the Bible or the Koran himself and is sworn in, but the U.S president places his hand on the Bible held by his wife.

A section of the crowd that was at Obama's inauguration

In Ghana after the president is sworn in, he sits on the big beautifully designed chair made specifically for the occasion. His vice president also sits on one also designed for that purpose. The only time the president and his vice president get to sit on these chairs aside inauguration days are when he goes to Parliament to give his state of the nation address.

He is also given a sword specially designed as a sign of power. It is called the sword of office. He holds and shows it to the whole world. It also has some traditional meanings, as most traditional rulers have these swords as a sign of power and authority. The day is officially over for the president of Ghana after he displays the sword of office and gives his speech.

But in the U.S, the day has just begun, as the president is expected to review the parade held in his honor and attend the balls organized for him. Perhaps that is the reason why heads of states from other countries are not invited but their diplomats. The U.S president is a busy person on inauguration day.

Obama's Second Inauguration; And they came for various reasons

President Barack Obama waves to the crowd

  President Barack Obama’s second inauguration did not have the same size crowds that gathered at the Capitol to watch him sworn in four years ago.

More than 1.2 million people gathered on the Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House in 2009. Even though that number dropped, the crowd that turned up was significant enough, and they spoke.

And so people from all walks of life attended Obama’s second inauguration, albeit not in the millions as they did in 2009 but enough to make Capitol and the National Mall feel small.

Lisa Fisher and her daughters, Kate, Samantha, Grace and Roxanne

Lisa Fisher, 45, from Alexandra, Virginia, was attending her second inauguration. She came to Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. This year, she brought her four daughters including triplets.

Fisher said it was very important to bring her daughters to be part of history. “I want them to listen to the speech and absorb it. It will help them in future,” she said.
Two of Fisher’s children, Roxanne and Grace, followed their mum, not only to watch but also to document. Roxanne, 12, and Grace, 11, brought their small camera and were shooting a documentary. They initially wanted to enter the documentary into a competition but decided against it because they would lose the rights to their work if they entered. “We want to keep it for the future,” Roxanne said. Grace said she was surprised to see the huge number of people. The girls, who are being home schooled by their mother, said they were excited to be asking everyday Americans about the inauguration and what they were expecting. Asked whether she intends to become a journalist in the future, Grace said, “Maybe, I don’t know”.

Grace Fisher, 11 and Sister Roxanne,12, interview Brian Bressler

Brian Bressler form Portland, Oregon, who came with his wife, Leskie, said he was giving himself a good 80th birthday gift. Bressler turned 80 on Inauguration Day and said he could not have given himself a better birthday gift than attending the inauguration. The comedian, who flew in from a business trip to Brussels to the inauguration, said he was given the ticket by his representative, Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon. He said he was very excited to be at his first inauguration. “The funniest thing that was special and important to me was being interviewed by two kids,” he said, referring to Roxanne and Grace.

Nelson Troche and daughter Brooklyn Michelle

Nelson Troche, 35, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said it was important for his 5-month-old baby to be a part of history. Troche was at the inauguration to support a president who supports gay marriages and believes it is important to raise children in an environment of equality.

Troche came with his gay partner, Tiyale Hayes, and their adopted daughter, Brooklyn Michelle.

Daniel Kuol, 25, from South Sudan, said he was at the inauguration to be a part of history. The government and international relations student at Bunker Hill College in Boston, Massachusetts, expects Obama to use his high office to promote world peace. “For someone who comes from a war-torn continent, all I can ask from the president is for him bring peace to Africa,” he said.  Kuol flew from Boston to D.C a week before the inauguration and spent much of the time exploring the city and its rich history.

Yet another accident

Some two months ago I was at the office of the Ashanti regional road safety boss Kwaku Oware Boateng. I was there to get accident figures for the half year and the accidents had risen by more than fifty percent compared to last year’s figures. Deaths had also increased by a whooping one hundred and two in the region. Two hundred and thirty four deaths were recorded in the first half of this year in the Ashanti region, compared to the one hundred and thirty two cases last year. This means that one hundred and two more people have died in the first half of this year than last year.

That is not all; statistics shows that the total number of accident cases reported within the first half of 2010 has increased from 803 to 1070 in the first half of 2011. Out of the 803 cases reported in the first half of 2010, 97 of them were fatal, 280 were serious while 426 cases were considered to be minor. However the 2011 figures of 1070 cases recorded 173 fatal cases while 345 were serious and 551 were regarded as minor. You can do the calculations.

 I asked Kwaku Oware Boateng whether the number of accidents and deaths for the next half of the year could reduce and he said it was possible provided the drivers became a little cautious.

Within two months after my interview with the regional road safety boss, I have reported on three accidents in the region; two of them on the main Obuasi-Kumasi road both of which claimed five lives and the recent one at Yawkwei near Konongo on the main Kumasi-Accra highway which claimed twenty four lives. One of the buses, a Hyundai luxury bus belonging to OA Transport was driving from Accra to Techiman while the other bus a Neoplan bus was travelling from Kumasi to Accra. I was at the scene of the accident and I have never seen anything as gory as I saw on the morning of September 15. Human parts were scattered all over the place and the two buses had their fronts totally destroyed beyond recognition.

These three accidents reported within just two months are the ones I have personaly reported on and I am told the figures are much more than the three in the region. I am very sure the figures for the third quarter for this year will definitely be more than that of last year. So what at all is happening on our roads and what can be done to stop these carnages on our roads?

For me, I think it is about time we started banning some drivers from driving on our roads. I was told in one of the accidents that occurred on the Obuasi road that, the driver ignored warnings from both drivers and pedestrians about how he was speeding from the Santasi roundabout till he got involved in the accident. I am sure this is not the first time this driver had driven carelessly on the road. Many reports might have gone to station masters and union members about his over speeding but have been ignored. I spoke to some GPRTU officials who tell me that it is difficult to suspend careless drivers because they will either join another group or will start plying another route. So we ask the question, how do we ensure that drivers who have been banned remain banned and do not drive until such a time that they are allowed to drive?

May be we should copy the example from developed countries where licenses are seized and sometimes confiscated. I am sure when licenses are seized and confiscated these drivers will find it difficult to drive. However, it will not be successful if the police and officials from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) continue to take monies from these people either to let them go scot free or give them licenses when their licenses have been seized.

I am a regular and constant traveler on the Accra Kumasi road and I have always been against the erection of speed ramps on the roads. However, witnessing these three accidents and the casualties, I have revised my notes. When I spoke to ASP Augustine Mensah MTTU commander of the Konongo district Police, he noted that the stretch of road between Juaso and Konongo is accident prone and so when speed ramps are erected, they could solve the accident problem. Speed ramps should not only be erected at the Juaso Konongo road but also on the stretch between Santasi and Anwiankwanta on the main Kumasi Obuasi road.

I spoke to an MTTU officer who told me that most of these luxury buses over speed. To him the solution to their over speeding could be curbed when their speedometers are adjusted to between 75 to 90kmph. I agree with him. I remember I traveled from Kumasi to Accra only recently and it took us just four hours on the road in its current state. I lived very scary moments because the driver was just over speeding and when I tried complaining I was tagged as being “too known”. So now I take the Koforidua route when I am travelling to Accra.

I believe when these transport owners ask manufacturers to adjust the speedometers of these buses downwards no matter how hard these drivers try to over speed they will not be able to because of the automatic adjustments. Most STC and metro mass transit buses have these features and so we hear little about accidents involving these transport operators. It is high time operators of these luxury buses tried this feature to curb over speeding.

There have also been calls for spiritual solutions but I do not think any amount of prayer be it Islamic, Christian or traditional can stop accidents if our drivers continue to over speed and continue to be irresponsible.   I believe there are other ways of solving this issue of accidents but certainly not education. Surprised? How many times have we not educated our drivers? I believe in education but for our Ghanaian drivers, action beyond and more severe than education. And to borrow my senior colleague Kwesi Pratt’s words, we must “crack the damn whip”.