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Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor has taken over the chairmanship of the Switzerland-based Interpeace Governing Council from former Finnish President and 2008 Nobel Peace Laureate, Martti Ahtisaari at a colourful ceremony in Geneva. As the outgoing Chairman introduced his successor to the Governing Council members, donors and diplomats said, �As President of Ghana, President Kufuor built his reputation as a solid, wise and patient leader and importantly, as an instinctive peace-builder. �President Kufuor, from his experience in Africa, has an in-depth understanding of how to overcome internal divisions and to promote peace and stability in societies. �His experience in this area will be a great asset to Interpeace.� A humbled former President Kufuor when he took over the baton, expressed delight that �he was taking over from such a distinguished and respected peace-builder, President Martti Ahtisaari.� Former Kufuor then proceeded to give a background to the audience about the part of the world that he hails from, noting that this is a place rich in cultural, human and material resources but ravaged by poverty, governance challenges and regularly conflicts. This, he noted, had prevented the region from attaining its full potential.� �But I have also seen at first-hand that peace is possible if we are willing to move beyond our differences and if we can inspire a new form of responsible leadership.� Juxtaposing his personal values with those of the organization, he said, �Interpeace is an organization that truly seeks to find local solutions that were critical to peace. �I also agree that the most important task in building peace is to foster trust within communities and between the people and their leaders. �This can sound simple but I know from my own experience that this can be one of the most difficult things to achieve.� The Director of Interpeace, Scott M. Weber, expressed excitement about the next chapter of the organization under the chairmanship of President Kufour, saying, �I know that all of us around the world are looking forward to benefit from your first hand experience in helping societies to resolve conflicts from your experience as President of Ghana and the African Union and your direct involvement in numerous peace processes across Africa.� Interpeace was established in 1994 as an international peace-building organization and headquartered in Geneva. It plays a discrete role in helping societies that are ravaged by violent conflicts and civil wars to build lasting peace and operates as an independent non-governmental organization in partnership with the United Nations on specific programmes. It is supported by 300 peace builders to implement programmes in 15 conflict and post-conflict zones in 13 countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, Guinea-Bissau, Somali Region and Liberia, East Timor, Cyprus, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel and Palestine. Ever since he left office as head of state, former President Kufuor has been bestowed with myriad high-notched appointments, which many Ghanaians have lost count of. He was on the verge of winning the Mo Ibrahim award for governance excellence recently when it was cancelled under mysterious circumstances. That notwithstanding, the former President continues to ride high at the international stage as an exceptional, living and constitutionally retired head of state.