General Frederick Akuffo takes over in 1978

He joined a 1982 Rawlings administration, with a local government brief, but resigned after seven months over political differences. He chaired the Ashanti Brick and Construction Company between 1973 and 1978 and was chairman of one of Africa's best known soccer clubs, Asante Kotoko, from 1988 to 1991. Kufuor made his political comeback several years after Rawlings introduced multiparty democracy in the early 1990s, but lost the presidential election to Rawlings in 1996. But he won the next two presidential elections in 2000 and 2004. Toward the end of 2006, Kufuor accused Rawlings of plotting to overthrow his administration by trying to stage a repeat of his military coup in 1981. Kufuor served twice as chairman of West African regional bloc ECOWAS, in 2001 and 2003. The litany of headlines read like an epitaph, or a coroners report that wouldnt be out of place in a morgue. Many believe that the All Blacks tour ended on a bad note, but even allowing for the fact that New Zealand test teams dont like to lose, it was a game that answered more questions than it asked. No All Black team, coach, player, or supporter likes to stomach a loss. Often, when such losses are talked about, it is a mix of surprise, shock, or even glee (especially by the opposing team) that a side has managed to beat the All Blacks. After all, if one was to average all of New Zealands losses over their proud history, it only equates to roughly one defeat per year. This year, we saw the All Blacks colours lowered five times. Harsh or not, this fact alone constitutes a less than ideal year for the New Zealand test side. The Barbarians class of the final challenge (the heady name given to a Barbarians team playing against a touring side for what is often the last international of the year) have now joined the illustrious side of 1973 as the only members of rugbys most famous invitational side to have defeated the All Blacks. It was not, in what history has dictated Barbarians sides to be, a genuine Baas-baas outfit. Often, the Barbarians FC has been filled with home unions players, or at the very least, players predominantly from the same Hemisphere as where the club is spiritually based, in the north. This was not the case at Twickenham over the weekend. It was filled with six Springboks, with two more waiting on the bench. This was always going to ensure that the challenge was going to be immense, not so much, because the South Africans have defeated the All Blacks this year, but the fact that surely the Tri Nations champions were smarting that New Zealand had superseded them in the world pecking order. They wanted to make a point before the years end. It was filled with four Wallabies, with another two in the reserves. This was going to again prove a challenge, as no Australian had tasted victory over an All Black team this year. They were playing alongside non-Australians that may not have been as match familiar with Robbie Deans men, but were man-for-man more potent than the usual Wallabies, and would have given them hope to finally taste victory over a New Zealand test team this year. Add to this mix some Welsh, Italians, and a former All Black with a point to prove, and the Baa-Baas were always going to be hard to beat. Some might have thought that the lack of match preparation would hurt, but with the team having twin Bok and Wallaby backbones, they were a lot more familiar with each other than pre-match practice might otherwise indicate. It was a heady mix of players with a big point to prove. While motivation was said to be provided by meeting with some of the players from the 1973 Barbarians team, Nick Mallet would only have needed to say one simple thing. Do you really want the All Blacks to emphasise the point that they are the number one team in the world, or do you want to spoil their party The party was in some respects spoiled, but with only two survivors from the French test, and some players having played for barely an hour in a month of rugby, the All Blacks were going to be just as rusty in overall match preparation as their counterparts. Sure, the scoreboard doesnt lie, but 14 of the Barbarians 25 points came from Bryan Habana scoring against the play. But in saying this, winning is about taking opportunities, which were taken by the invitational team. The game was close, and the positives were still there for the All Blacks. The New Zealand test talent pool, confirmed by Graham Henry to be a bit too shallow for his liking, is certainly filling up again. The lineout, for so long a weak position in New Zealand rugby, is filling up with contenders again. And to think that next year Ali Williams and Chris Jack will again be fighting for spots. Players such as Tom Donnelly and Anthony Boric have revitalised a faltering All Blacks set piece, and who would have thought that the latter would have pinched two throws off none other than Victor Matfield. Luke McAlister finally had a game that showed why he is so highly rated by the All Blacks coaches, and the young players outside of him, such as Tamati Ellison and Ben Smith, showed glimpses of why they are regarded as being good enough for the international stage. And even Rodney Sooialo, the old warhorse that may have been surpassed by Kieran Read of late, had a strong game. A starter he may not be anymore, but again many teams would be blessed to have a player of his experience and dedication in the wings. Sure it was a loss, and they are never easy to take for the All Blacks faithful. But it accentuated why 2009 was a much better year than a 66 percent win average might otherwise indicate. . (Reuters) - Ghanaian opposition leader John Atta Mills was sworn in as president on Wednesday after his narrow victory in last week's presidential run-off vote. WorldMills, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), succeeds President John Kufuor, who stepped down after serving the maximum two elected four-year terms allowed by the West African state's constitution.Here are brief details about Mills. The victory of Mills, a 64-year-old foreign-trained lawyer and taxation expert, broke an eight-year spell in power by Kufuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mills was standing for the third time as presidential contender. He studied law both at London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and as a Fulbright scholar at Stanford Law School in the United States. Mills was national tax commissioner under Rawlings before being promoted to the vice-presidency in 1997. He has held positions as examiner in several finance-related institutions, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Bankers, and the Ghana Tax Review Commission. He is a keen swimmer and hockey player and once played for the national team. (Reuters) - Ghana's opposition leader John Atta Mills was sworn in as the West African country's president on Wednesday after a narrow victory in last week's run-off vote. World RussiaHe succeeds President John Kufuor, who stepped down after serving the maximum two elected four-year terms allowed by the constitution.Here is a timeline of Ghana since independence:March 6, 1957 - The former British colony of Gold Coast becomes the first country in black Sub-Saharan Africa to win independence.July 1960 - Kwame Nkrumah becomes president of the Republic of Ghana, months after a republican constitution is ratified by a referendum.February 1966 - Nkrumah is overthrown after a military coup. Russian and Chinese technicians are expelled.August 1969 - A new constitution is ratified leading to a transfer of power to the civilian government of Kofi Busia.January 1972 - Busia is ousted in coup led by Colonel Ignatius Acheampong. General Frederick Akuffo takes over in 1978.June 1979 - Akuffo is deposed in a coup led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.

Elections are held and in September Rawlings hands over power to a new president, Hilla Limann.January 1981 - Limann is overthrown in coup led by Rawlings after two years of weak economic policies.November 1992 - Rawlings is elected president.January 2001 - Former opposition leader John Kufuor is sworn in as new president after Rawlings served the two elected terms he is allowed.December 2004 - Kufuor wins second and final four-year mandate.June 2007 - London-based Tullow Oil Plc says it has found up to 600 million barrels of oil offshore.December 7, 2008 - First round of presidential election. Neither Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party nor John Atta Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress wins more than the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off.December 28, 2008 - Presidential runoff vote held in all but one of Ghana's 230 constituencies. With barely 23,000 votes separating the two, vote goes down to final constituency of Tain, which has 53,000 voters.Jan 2, 2009 - Run-off vote held in Tain constituency, but Akufo-Addo's NPP boycotts vote. Federer Tiger Woods Tendulkar Marion JonesWho do you think will make the top 10 sportspeople of the last ten years Sportpunter will be counting down the list. We are looking at all sports from Javelin to Judo, from baseball to boxing.

Weve looked deep and hard, weighing up all the variables using Sportpunters latest mathematical technique to come up with the top ten sportspeople of the last ten years. Unfortunately for all pro wrestling fans, none of your stars made the list. Hulk Hogan didnt quite make the cut.But there are plenty of others that well might. Coming in at number 10 for Sportpunter's best sportsperson of the last decade is American Basketball Player Shaquille ONeal. No player in basketball has had the same influence as the shaq in the past ten years. Standing at a daunting 7 foot 1 (216 cm) and weighing 325 pounds (147kg), the shaq is one of the biggest players to play the game. Starting the 2000s playing for the LA Lakers, he took them to championships in the first three years of the decade, winning himself NBA Finals MVP in all three years and regular season MVP in the year 2000.