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President Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo

We’re a blessed nation- President inspires Ghanaians

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Friday (March 6,2020) urged Ghanaians not to talk down themselves unnecessarily but be thankful to the Almighty for a blessed nation.

He said although the country had missed a lot of opportunities to achieve its economic goals and aspirations, “we have solid reason to rejoice.”

The President, however, entreated all that for as long as the economic goals of the country had not been achieved, “we cannot, and we should not relax and be complacent.”

Addressing a crowd of more than 50,000 Ghanaians from all walks of life who turned up to mark the 63rd Independence anniversary celebration at the Baba Yara

Sports Stadium in Kumasi yesterday, President Akufo-Addo stated: “We lament, and rightly so, the infrastructure deficits that plague all sectors of our lives, and the considerable number of our people who still live in poverty. But, if truth be told, we have solid reason to rejoice and be thankful to the Almighty, for this is a blessed nation.”

First time

It is the first time the annual parade was hosted in Kumasi and the second outside Accra.

Last year, the national independence parade came off in Tamale in what is expected to be a rotational format introduced by the ruling government to bring the event closer to the people of every region.

The 63rd Independence anniversary was on the theme: “Consolidating our gains”.

Welcome

The President was dressed in a white tunic with trimmings of the national colours on the tips of the long sleeves as well as hints of the popular kente fabric running vertically on each half of the shirt, worn over a pair of black trousers.

He was welcomed by an electrifying flag-waving crowd in the more than 43,000 seating capacity Baba Yara Stadium, where additional thousands of seats were created to increase the spectators to more than 50,000.

The President’s convoy was accompanied by a Police Mounted Squadron which rode on 21 white horses, headed by a policewoman, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mary Clara Agamba, who rode the horse Step by Step.

The Mounted Squadron, formed with seven horses in 1940 to offer ceremonial escorts to the then Governors of the Gold Coast, now offers ceremonial escorts to the President.

Impressive attendance

The well-attended event attracted dignitaries who included the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Christopher Keith Rowley, who was the Guest of Honour; and his wife, Sharon; the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and his wife, Lady Julia; the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye; the Chairman of the Council of State and Juabenhene, Nana Otuo Siriboe II; ministers of state, Members of Parliament, representatives of some political parties and members of the diplomatic corps.

Also in attendance were other government functionaries, the clergy, Muslim leaders and traditional rulers.

Consensus

Ushered in to give his address with an eloquent poetic recitation in Twi by a group of young girls who extolled some of his achievements, President Akufo-Addo called on Ghanaians to have a strong belief in the things that defined them, in spite of the differences in opinions and the usual arguments that also characterised them.

“When we fight as members of a community, we bite off hair, we do not uproot it. In other words, in our gravest moments of fury, we strive to avoid bloodshed,” he paraphrased an Akan proverb he had earlier quoted.

He urged Ghanaians to be proud of the liberal democratic path the country was treading, and remain united to make it work in a bid to bring prosperity faster.

Also, they should acknowledge that good things were happening in the country and that progress was being made.

“Nineteen per cent of our people do not have access to potable water, but 81 per cent of people in Ghana, presently have access to safe water. We are making progress. The supply of electricity has reached 85 per cent of the country. No child has died from measles in the past 17 years in Ghana.

“No longer do mothers have to sell off their most treasured fabrics and jewellery and fathers go to money lenders to be able to see their children through senior high school. Today, SHS education is free for every child. We are making progress.

“Some 25 years ago, only a few wealthy people carried mobile phones; it was a status symbol, and it gave them access to opportunities that few could dream of. In the year 2000, there were 90,000 mobile phone subscribers, in 2020, there are 41 million subscriptions. Mobile subscriber penetration is bigger than the population. We are making progress,” the President stressed.

Trailblazers

President Akufo-Addo while calling for Ghanaians to remain united, also reckoned that on the day of Independence the celebrations were not limited to Ghana, or to Ghanaians alone but to the rest of the world.

"We were the trailblazers for the independence movement on the continent, we held out hope for restored dignity to the black race around the world," he added.

He, therefore, called for hard work among Ghanaians towards a prosperous, peaceful and happy Ghana.

'We all recognise that the responsibility we carry as the first sub-Saharan colonial country to gain independence is not simply to build a successful country.

"We owe it to the rest of the continent and the black race to demonstrate that, indeed, we can build and run a successful, prosperous and happy country. This is a task we do not shirk, and which all Ghanaians accept," he said.

He commended the African-Americans, especially those from the Caribbean, saying it was not surprising Trinidadian, Lord Kitchener, composed the defining song of the event.

Tributes

President Akufo-Addo further used the occasion to pay tribute to all those who played diverse roles in Ghana’s fight for freedom, expressing appreciation to the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, which protected the Ghanaian lands from the grasp of "the greedy imperialists; the members of the United Gold Coast Convention, who first sounded the clarion call for freedom; the members of the Convention People’s Party, who brought the battle for freedom to a successful conclusion, and all those who took the fight to the colonialists.”

He also saluted his late father, Edward Akufo-Addo, a member of the Big Six; Yaa Asantewaa, Jacob Sey, John Mensah Sarbah, Joseph Caseley Hayford, George Moore, R. S. Wood, Thomas Hutton-Mills, Kobina Sekyi, James Kwegyir Aggrey, Nii Kwabena Bonnie III, Ephraim Amu, George Alfred Grant, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Francis Awoonor-Williams, R. S. Blay, J. W. de Graft Johnson, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, William Ofori-Atta, Ebenezer Ako Adjei and Kwame Nkrumah.

Others are Cobbina Kessie, V. B. Annan, Jimmy Quist-Therson, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Kojo Botsio, Kofi Baako, Krobo Edusei, Nancy Tsiboe, Mumuni Bawumia, S. D. Dombo, Kofi Abrefa Busia, Joe Appiah, Victor Owusu, R. R. Amponsah, Baffuor Osei Akoto, Modesto Apaloo, S. G. Antor, Akua Shorshorshor, Dedei Ashikinshan, among others, for their contribution towards attaining Independence.

Challenges

President Akufo-Addo noted that since the country gained independence, she had had difficulties, and stumbled in the search to reach her potential.

"But Ghana has never lost her position as the inspirational leading light on the African continent," he said.

Some schoolchildren marching to mark the day

Politics and democracy

The President said Ghana's politics might not always be the most edifying, but it was demanding and loud, and all citizens cherished the right to freedom of expression.

"We are into the 28th year of this Fourth Republic, the longest, uninterrupted period of stable, constitutional governance in our history.

"We have had regular, hard fought elections and peaceful changes of administrations, and managed to avoid any third-term manoeuvres. That is something for which we should applaud ourselves," he added.

The President said Ghanaians should never forget that development through the democratic process was not exactly the easiest governance option.

"Many of the countries that have made miraculous economic transformations did so, more often than not, through authoritarian regimes. In earlier times, several of the developed economies built their successes on the back of slavery and work practices that would not be tolerated in any democracy today," he said.

Designers and the Creative Arts

President Akufo-Addo said the creative arts industry was thriving, and there were exciting things to interest a wide range of people.

"The fashion scene is vibrant and unearths new talent every day. Take a look around this stadium today, and feast your eyes on the riot of colours and the wide variety of styles that our Kente weavers can conjure,” he said.

The President said the Kente has crossed over the Ghanaian borders, and is no longer exclusively Ghanaian, but the symbol of identity for peoples of African descent everywhere.

The President said Ghanaian designers, tailors and dressmakers kept Ghanaian-made clothes in the top range of attractive clothes.

Year of Return

President Akufo-Addo expressed delight at the gains made during the Year of Return, marked last year, which saw hundreds of thousands of visitors from the Africans in the diaspora visiting the country.

He further expressed the hope of renewing the relationship between Ghanaians and those from the Caribbeans and Americas.

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