Inauguration Akufo-Addo took office on 7 January 2017. His inauguration was held at
Black Star Square in
Accra. Twelve presidents from African and
European countries attended the ceremony, including
Edgar Lungu of
Zambia,
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt,
Ernest Bai Koroma of
Sierra Leone,
Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe,
Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. Akufo-Addo faced backlash, especially on social media, for plagiarizing parts of his inauguration speech, having lifted passages, word-for-word, from previous inaugural addresses given by American presidents
John F. Kennedy,
Bill Clinton and
George W. Bush as well as prepared remarks given by
Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari at a 2015
United States Institute of Peace event. After the scandal came to light, his press office issued an apology, with his communication director describing the situation as a "complete oversight and never deliberate." However, after the
mea culpa, it was found that Akufo-Addo had also plagiarized portions of his 2013 concession speech after the
Supreme Court of Ghana upheld the 2012 electoral victory of President
John Mahama. In that speech, lines were lifted verbatim from United States Vice-president
Al Gore's 2000 presidential concession speech given after the
US Supreme Court verdict.
Education sector In September 2017, Akufo-Addo launched the
Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, which will make
secondary high school free for students in
Ghana. The president states it is a "necessary investment in the nation's future workforce" and will help parents who are unable to pay for their children's education due to financial hardships. The program met with positive reaction from the nation, parents and students were excited and fervent, but private schools opposed to the program state it will decrease the number of students enrolling in their system. In August 2023, Akufo-Addo cited the 2022 WASSCE success as proof of his education policies' effectiveness. During a speech at Queen Girls Senior High School in the Western North region, the President credited last year's WASSCE results, the best in eight years, to the success of the Free Senior High School program and related initiatives. Akufo-Addo celebrated notable improvements in the 2022 WASSCE results, with higher scores in English, Integrated Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies. He also commended the 2021 student cohort for adapting to the double track system. Despite the
IMF already warning the country that it was at high risk of debt-distress, the government of Akufo-Addo kept on borrowing, pushing up the nation's public debt from 56% of GDP to 63% before the pandemic. After the pandemic, Ghana borrowed even more in comparison with its neighbours, precipitating a budget-deficit crisis, the second highest in
Sub Saharan Africa at 16% as of 2020, far above the regional average of 6%.
LGBT rights Akufo-Addo has taken a relatively moderate line on
LGBT rights in Ghana. In November 2017, he suggested that the legalisation of
homosexuality is inevitable and said he can foresee a change in the law. Akufo-Addo, who spent much of his early life in
England, said that LGBT rights will evolve in Ghana as they have in the
United Kingdom. However, he affirmed that LGBT rights were not part of the government agenda at the moment. In August 2018, he reiterated that the
Government of Ghana would not legalise
same-sex marriage or
decriminalise homosexuality under his leadership.
Sports In February 2019, Akufo-Addo's administration announced a complete renovation of sports buildings around Ghana due to the country hosting the
African Games in 2024. Buildings include Accra and
Cape Coast Sports Stadium and the
Azumah Nelson Sports Complex in
Kaneshie. The
University of Ghana Sports Stadium whose renovations were abandoned in 2009 after former President
John Kufuor left office will also proceed.
Other ventures In 2019, the number of regions in Ghana increased from ten to sixteen under the president's administration. The new regions are
Oti,
Western North,
North East,
Ahafo (splitting from Brong),
Savannah and
Bono East Regions. The creation of the regions ends decades of petitions to the government calling for the development of new regions. In 2020, he signed the
UNAIDS Public Letter on People's Vaccine which was a campaign calling for accessibility of the
COVID-19 vaccine to all. He joined other world leaders in the signing. He wrote "all people everywhere must have access to the vaccine when one becomes available." Concerns were raised that people in richer countries may have quicker access to the vaccine than poor countries which led to the writing of an open letter that any vaccine against the disease should be free and made available at no cost to all people. In May 2020, he swore into office two appointed
Supreme Court Judges,
Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu and
Clemence Jackson Honyenuga at the
Jubilee House. ==Personal life==