President Watch-Night

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, accompanied by his wife, Rebecca, on Tuesday night joined congregants of the Accra Ridge Church for the Watch-Night Service to usher in Year 2020.

Also at the service were the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, and some senior officials of the Presidency.

Amidst songs of praise, hymns and supplications, the congregants of the church offered prayers of thanksgiving for the goodness of God in 2019, and prayed for the stability and economic development of Ghana on the threshold of the new decade.

They also prayed for the poor, the sick, the needy, the departed, the church, the youth, and for the year 2020, that God would lift his countenance on the country, shower Ghana with peace, and meet both the spiritual and physical needs of Ghanaians in the New Year.

In a sermon, Rev. Canon Samuel Lamptey urged Ghanaians to appraise themselves with honest introspection and resolve to live better in the years ahead.

He prayed God to forgive the transgressions of 2019, and admonished Ghanaians to make a fresh start and to get in tune with God's ways as a nation, as a people, and as a church.

They should constantly rely on God, and put their faith in the hands of God, because that was better and safer than any known way.

The Minister urged them to surrender their aspirations for 2020 to God, build a Godly character, follow a moral code, and do what pleased God. They should re-dedicate themselves to God, resolve that the Christ-like attributes of love and compassion that dawned on them during the yuletide, reflect in the nation's outlook in 2020.

Rev. Canon Lamptey called on Ghanaians to mend the divisions amongst them and "let us resolve to seek love and speak the truth with one another" Challenges, he noted, would abound in 2020, but with faith in God, who is truthful to His word, the New Year would usher great tidings and better things for Ghana.

At the blow of midnight, the congregants of the church, clad mostly in white apparels, erupted into joyous shouts, waving their white handkerchiefs, exchanged greetings and hugging loved ones, as they ushered in Year 2020, whilst other merry-makers and revellers around the Church's environs released spectacular fireworks into the night sky.