Emulate life of Mandela — Prez Mahama

The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has urged the world not to only celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela but also to emulate his life of sacrifice, unity and respect for the rights of all.

He said it was wrong for leaders to claim that they admired Mandela but stifled democracy in their own countries.

"Now, as Mandela is mourned and remembered, the world should not only be celebrating his life but emulate his life," he told the CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview last Monday.

"People take the different things that Mandela taught us and use them as they wish," he said.

President Mahama, who was in the United States of America to deliver the inaugural Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum lecture, was sharing his perspectives on the former South African President.

The President said he had personally followed the footsteps of  Mandela.

Likewise, he said,  Mandela himself followed the steps of other African leaders.

“Former President Mandela followed a tradition of several African leaders who had used forgiveness and compassion to try and build their nation states,” he said.

He cited the examples of Jomo Kenyatta, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere – the founding fathers of Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania respectively – as examples of liberators whose tradition Mandela followed.

Mandela legacy

"Mandela’s legacy too will live long after his death," President Mahama said.

He said one of  Mandela’s greatest legacies was that he only served one term in office.

‘’There was a lot of pressure from the chiefs and the people of South Africa for him to continue for a second term but he declined,’’ he said.

“We must prepare the next generation of leaders to take over from us. I don't think that any one person has all the answers to the challenges that our individual countries face," he quoted Nelson Mandela as saying.

President Mahama said when he was growing up as a young student in secondary school, " Mandela was an icon for us."

He said Ghana was at the forefront of the liberation struggle against colonialism.

“And so we marched, we held demonstrations in support of him – until he was released from prison in 1990," he said.

Encounter with Mandela

President Mahama recalled that when he was Ghana's Minister of Communications, he had an encounter with Mandela at a Cape Town conference.

“I came back to the hotel and was standing right in front of the lifts, going back to my room. And when the lift arrived and opened, President Mandela stepped out.

“I was shocked; I was frozen; I couldn't utter a word. He nodded in my direction. I was so shocked I couldn't nod in response.

“This was a man I had revered over the years. I had marched for him; I had demonstrated for him; I had held placards calling for his release. And then the opportunity to meet him – I was so frozen I couldn't even talk to him," he said.