TAKPEY Jacob

Location: Ghana is situated in West Africa, just above the Equator. The Greenwich Meridian passes through its main industrial city, Tema. It lies between latitude four degrees 45 minutes and 11 degrees 11 minutes North and extends from Longitude one degree 14 minutes east to three degrees 17 minutes west. Ghana shares common boundaries with Togo in the east, Burkina Faso in the north and Cote d'Ivoire in the West. The Atlantic Ocean is in the south.

Capital: Accra.

Status: Republic. Former British colony. It won independence on March 6, 1957 and became the first country south of the Sahara to be free. She became a Republic on July 1, 1960.

Population: About 23.9million.

Area: 238,537 square kilometres

Religion: Christian (63 per cent), Muslims (16 per cent), traditional religion (21 per cent)

Languages: English (official). The local languages are Twi, Fanti, Ewe, Ga and Dagbani.

Ethnic groups: Twi and Fanti-speaking Akans (45.3 per cent), Mole-Dagombas (15.2 per cent), Ewes (11.7 per cent) others (27.8 per cent).

THE GOLDEN STOOL
The famous Golden Stool for the People of Ashanti (belong to the Akan Ethnic) is their spiritual symbol. Covered with pure gold, it flew out from the sky in thick cloud of white dust and rested on the knees of Osei Tutu I who united the Ashanti Kingdom. This happened on a famous Friday at a gathering of chiefs from Ashanti and was made possible by an intelligent and powerful high priest, Okomfo Anokye, who conjured it from the heavens in the late 1600s. The golden stool is a curved seat of 46 cm high, with a platform of 61 cm wide and 30cm deep. To defend the golden stool in 1900 the Ashantis battled the British in the Yaa Asantewa war and prefered to let the British exile the Ashantis last sovereign king Prempeh I, rather than surrender the stool. Today the stool is housed in the Asante royal palace in KUMASI the capital of the Ashanti Region.
This Golden Stool is never allowed to touch the ground. When a new Ashanti King is enstolled, he is merely lowered and raised over it three times without touching it. Whenever the golden stool is taken out on special occasions, the Asantehene( king of Ashantis) follows it.

                                          I Republic

Kwame Nkrumah                   1 July 1960                                   24 february 1966

Joseph Ankrah                      24 february 1966                           2 April 1969

Akwasi Afrifa                        2 April 1969                                  7 August 1970

Nii Amaa Ollennu                   7 August 1970                               31 August  1970

                                             II Republic

Edward Akuffo Addo               31 August 1970                             13 January 1970

Ignatius Kutu-Acheampong       31 January 1972                            5 July 1978

Frederick AKuffo                     5 July 1978                                  4 June 1979

Jerry Rawlings                        4 june 1979                                  24 September 1979

                                              III Republic

Hilla Limann                           24 September 1979                        31 December 1981

Jerry Rawlings                        31 December 1981                         7 January 1993

                                             IV Republic

 Jerry Rawlings                       7 January 1993                              7 Janaury 2001

John Kufour                            7 Janauary 2001                           7 January 2009

John Atta Mills                         7 January 2009