Outgoing President Jerry Rawlings expressed confidence Saturday about Ghana's future as he handed over power to a formal rival after dominating politics in this West African country for two decades.
``I am leaving with the same optimism and hope I had when we embarked on our journey to transform the country,'' said Rawlings, who staged two military coups before putting the country on the road to democratic reform.
Rawlings' departure marks a rare commitment to democratic change in a region characterized by repressive leaders and flawed elections.
``We seized a historic opportunity, and I am happy how far we have traveled on the road to socio-economic and political transformation,'' the charismatic ex-fighter pilot told the troops at a military parade honoring him at the Military Academy and Training School in the capital, Accra.
Veteran opposition leader John Agyekum Kuffuor defeated Rawlings' chosen successor in a Dec. 28 runoff election and was to be sworn in as the country's next president at a ceremony on Sunday.
The handover of power marks the end of an era for Ghana, where Rawlings has come to embody the government. Originally a brutal military dictator, he embraced democratic and free-market ideals in the 1990s, becoming a darling of Western donors.
He won multiparty elections in 1992 and 1996, but was barred by the constitution — which he approved — from running for another four-year term.
But his overwhelming popularity has dimmed in recent years, as the country's once-thriving economy declined. Prices for Ghana's chief exports, cocoa and gold, plummeted as oil prices rose.
Rawlings said Saturday he had accepted an invitation from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to become a roving ambassador to promote philanthropy in 2001.
