The President of Ghana is the democratically elected Chief Executive of the State. In every four years, Ghanaians go to the polls to exercise their franchise to elect a President and Parliamentarians. Officially, the President of the Republic of Ghana is the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current President of Ghana is Prof. John Evan Fiifi Atta-Mills, who took office in January 2009.

Eligibility
According to Chapter 8. Article 62 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana,a person shall not be qualified for election as the President of Ghana unless -

1. He is a citizen of Ghana by birth (or both parents must have been born in Ghana);
2. He has attained the age of forty years; and
3. He is a person who is otherwise qualified to be elected a Member of Parliament, except that the disqualifications set out in paragraphs of clause of article 94 of this Constitution shall not be removed, in respect of any such person, by a presidential pardon or by the lapse of time as provided for in clause of that article.

Oath of office
The president of Ghana must be sworn in by the Chief Justice before people of Ghana at the Independence Square in Accra. The president-elect must repeat the following:

I, having been elected to the high office of President of the

Republic of Ghana do (in the name of the Almighty God swear) (solemnly affirm) that I will be faithful and true to the Republic of Ghana; that I will at all times preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana; and that I dedicate myself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana and to do right to all manner of persons.

I further (solemnly swear) (solemnly affirm) that should I at any time break this oath of office I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it. (So help me God.)

Residence
The president of Ghana’s formal residence was the Osu Castle in Accra. In 2007, the opposition MPs in Ghana stormed out of a parliamentary debate on whether to take out a $50m loan to build a new presidential palace. The NPP argued that the president should not be based in Osu Castle, where slaves used to be kept. The opposition National Democratic Congress said the money would be better spent elsewhere.

The old flagstaff house used by Ghana’s first president as residence is being renovated into a museum, while the grounds on which it stands is
being built up as an ultra modern office complex and residence for the president and vice-president of Ghana as well as their staff.

At the inauguration of the new presidential palace, President John Kufuor revealed to the press that the new name of palace would be Golden Jubilee House. The chosen name had drawn lots of criticism from Ghanaians in the country and abroad .The name was chosen in reference to the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s Independence.

Insignia
After the oath of office has been taken by the elected president, these following insignia are handed over to the president. These devices are used to display the rank of his office and are used on special occasions.