Kofi Annan-Dag Hammarskjold Lecture held in Accra
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, has asked the electorate in Africa to elect leaders who will passionately ensure the people’s well-being.
Advertisement
“What we need are leaders who go into politics to serve and not to be served, leaders who will pursue long-term interventions to improve the well-being of the poor and the vulnerable and leaders who will pursue better health care for all,” he stressed.
Causes of conflicts
Speaking at the Second Kofi Annan-Dag Hammarskjold Annual Memorial Lecture at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) at Teshie, near Accra, Mr Adjaho blamed the insecurity and conflict in African countries on bad political leadership.
He said the growing disparity in wealth and increasing poverty, diseases, hunger, corruption, among others, were the major causes of conflicts on the continent.
Role of KAIPTC
Mr Adjaho, therefore, charged the KAIPTC to carry out more research and training into conflict resolution in Africa.
He also tasked the centre to give greater consideration to consensus building among political leadership and actors, “without sacrificing the national interest”.
He said the winner-takes-all democratic dispensation was an unhealthy experience for many African countries.
Perspectives/Challenges
Delivering a lecture on: “The UN, Peace and Security in Africa: Perspectives and challenges”, Mr Staffan Domingo de Mistura, a former Under Secretary General of the UN, took the audience down memory lane during his over three decades of working in various volatile conflict areas in the world.
He said the current globalised world should remind all that whatever was happening to one country should be the concern of all and warned that what was going on in the Central African Republic could degenerate if action was not taken urgently.
He commended Ghana’s role in peacekeeping across all conflict spots in the world.
Donor-fatigue
Mr Mistura said Western donor support for trouble spots in Africa was dwindling because of donor fatigue, among other factors.
He, therefore, tasked the KAIPTC to do more in the area of training in peacekeeping, conflict prevention and management.
In a statement, the Executive Director of the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Madam Anika Soder, said she was happy that such a lecture had been instituted to recognise the important roles played by both Mr Annan and Dag Hammarskjold in the area of peace and conflict resolution.Earlier in a welcome address , the Commandant of the KAIPTC Maj-General Obed Akwa had said the centre had come of age and carved a niche for itself as a world-class training facility.
Awards
As part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the KAIPTC, some distinguished individuals and institutions, including former Ministers of Defence since the inception of the Fourth Republic, were honoured with crystal plaques for their contribution to the building and running of the centre.
Writer’s Email: [email protected]
