Fellow Ghanaians, the new year promises to be very eventful for two main reasons:

We start off with the Ghana 2008 soccer tournament and conclude with the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

With regard to the football tournament our legendary hospitality should be brought to the fore as we welcome our brothers from the continent and beyond to join us to play host to all that is good about African football.

Of course, our support should be strongly behind the Black Stars to ensure that the gallantry they displayed at the 2006 World Cup will be surpassed to enable us lift the African title for the 5th time.

We will miss our captain Stephen Appiah very much but I am confident that Claude Le Roy and his technical staff are more than capable of finding a replacement for him.

As regards the elections, it is important that we collectively protect Ghana’s democracy and move it in the right and acceptable direction.

What happened in Nigeria and is happening in Kenya is something that we should avoid as much as possible and on my own behalf and on behalf of the party I lead, the NDC, I can pledge that we will do whatever it takes to maintain the sanctity of Ghana’s democracy.

I hope that all other major players in the political and electoral arena, will also endeavour to support the forward march of our democracy and allow for an even and fair competition.

Anything short of a fair and even competition may leave a sour taste in the mouth of Ghana and we must guard against that.

I join all Ghanaians to pray for peace, prosperity, success, and more importantly, unity for 2008.

There is no other place we can call our home, and it is my wish that we all endeavour to stay committed to making Ghana a home where we can live in peace, harmony, and pursue our dreams, as well as a home we can all be proud of.

My prayer is that, the coming year will bring with it, a renewed hope for this dear country of ours.

God bless our homeland Ghana and I wish all of us a joyous and purposeful new year.