The Federal Republic of Germany today congratulated Professor John Evans Atta Mills on his election as the new President of the Republic of Ghana. In a statement issued in Berlin Sunday, the Federal Foreign Minister, Frank Walter-Walter Steinmeier said the fact that the elections remained largely peaceful and orderly despite the closeness of the result was a success for democracy in Ghana. The statement observed that a peceful democratic transition “is exemplary for all of Africa,” adding that “the people of Ghana can rightly be proud of the vibrant, contested and yet peaceful change that has taken place in their country.”

The statement said: “Professor Mills' government will have tremendous tasks to master. Above all, it must ensure that the positive economic developments in Ghana finally bring tangible dividends for all Ghanaians. I also hope that Professor Mills will successfully give the opponent he beat so narrowly, my former counterpart as Foreign Minister, Nana Akufo-Addo, and his party, a role in shaping the political and economic future of his country.”

Frank-Walter Steinmeier pledged that: “The Federal Government and I myself will continue to lend Ghana our full support on its way forward."