US institute honours Ghana for democratic credentials - Prez receives National Achievement Award
Ghana has been honoured with a National Achievement Award by the Africa-America Institute in New York for its democratic credentials and stability.
Receiving the award on behalf of the country at an awards ceremony at the New York Public Library last Tuesday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo underscored the need for the country to deepen its democracy with genuine separation of powers among the various arms of government.
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“Our Parliament, the legislative arm of government, must grow into its proper role as an effective machinery for accountability and oversight of the Executive. Our Judiciary must inspire confidence in the citizens, so that we can all see the courts as the ultimate, impartial arbiters when disputes arise, as they would.
“We have to build a confident Ghana which is united, at peace with itself and takes pride in its diversity and which continues to pursue its pan-African vocation. It will not be easy; we have no illusions whatsoever about the nature of the task that we face, but I know that Ghanaians will rise to the occasion; they always do. The Black Star is going to shine and shine and shine,” he said
Individual interpretation
President Nana Akufo-Addo said democracy should not be subject to individual interpretation, and that it should not be a negotiation between the elite and stakeholders.
According to him, democracy was best established when institutions were trusted, the rules of the game clear and political actors prepared to win and lose.
“It is for this reason that, in the disputed elections of 2012, my party and I proved that we were willing and able to submerge our individual and partisan preferences for the common good. We demonstrated clearly that it was not the ambition of Akufo-Addo or the fortunes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that we sought to promote.
“The stability and progress of Ghana and the enhancement of its democracy were the paramount considerations that guided our every action in those difficult days,” he explained.
Tribulations
The President said Ghanaians had to overcome several trials and tribulations — slavery, imperialism, colonialism, tyranny and dictatorship — in the course of the country’s history.
“We once lived in a country where freedom of speech was suppressed; where the safeguards of trial — the rule of law — were set aside; where individual property rights were disregarded by the state because the citizen had no guaranteed rights and where citizens went to jail for expressing honest opinions,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said what that history had taught Ghanaians was “that the spirit of the Ghanaian, in his or her quest for peace, progress and prosperity, cannot be quenched. We are a determined lot who cannot be deterred”.
He said Ghana was now recognised as a beacon of democracy and stability on the African continent, stressing: “We are a country governed by the principles of democratic accountability, respect for individual liberties and human rights and the rule of law.”
Decentralisation
President Akufo-Addo said it was time for the country to decentralise more and devolve more power, with corresponding resources, to the base of the political system and to the people in the regions, communities and localities.
“We must trust the individual and collective wisdom and good sense of our people. We must create wealth and restore happiness to our nation. We can only do this when we have a powerful private sector, with a strong sense of enterprise, innovation and creativity, and an educated and skilled population that is capable of competing in the global marketplace,” he said.
He paid tribute to successive generations of Ghanaian patriots who played invaluable roles in establishing the free, sovereign and democratic Ghana for which Ghanaians were being honoured.