Spearhead change in individual attitudes and practices — Prez Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged the populace to spearhead the change they all desire through the adoption of changes in individual attitudes and practices.
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Delivering his inaugural address following his investiture as the fifth President of the land last Saturday, he said there was no magic wand that could propel change but that the change that Ghanaians voted for could start with changes in individual attitudes and practices.
“Fellow citizens, you must be at the centre of the change. The change we have voted for will have to start with each of us as individuals. We can start with little changes in our own individual attitudes and practices. The change can and should start now and with us as individuals,” he said.
Clad in a rich traditional Kente cloth, President Akufo-Addo called on Ghanaians to rise up to the occasion and be more patriotic now, more than ever, in the quest for change.
The President’s requests
“I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation. Let us work until the work is done,” he urged the people, and buttressed his call with a quotation from the Holy Scripture in Galatians 6:9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Addressing an august audience that included former Presidents John Dramani Mahama, J.A. Kufuor and J. J. Rawlings and many African leaders, President Akufo-Addo stated that it had become a matter of routine for people to say they were Ghanaians but the time had come to define what being a Ghanaian ought to mean.
“Being a Ghanaian must stand for something more than the holder of a birth certificate or a certain passport. Being a Ghanaian must put certain responsibilities on each one of us,” he said.
Who is a Ghanaian?
“Calling yourself a Ghanaian must mean you have signed up to a certain definable code and conduct. Being a Ghanaian puts an obligation on each one of us to work at building a fair, prosperous and happy nation. And calling yourself a Ghanaian must mean we look out for each other. There should be no higher praise than to be able to say I am a Ghanaian,” he said.
The President said he foresaw exciting times ahead and that the rule of law would be the underlying tenet of the lives of Ghanaians and that the law would be applicable to all and not just some.
“We will have to work hard, harder than we have ever done before; and the hard work will be done by all of us, and not just some. There will be discipline in all sectors of our lives; and this applies to all of us, not just some,” he said.
He said the public service would be accorded the dignity and respect it deserved and be made to attract the bright young people it needed.
On dealing with the peculiar needs of the vulnerable in society, President Akufo-Addo said his government acknowledged that there would always be the need for a safety net for the vulnerable in society, as in all other societies.
“Our nation will work when the marginalised and vulnerable are catered for and treated with respect. Our elderly people will be recognised for their roles in building Ghana and assured of care in the dusk of their lives,” he said.
Touching on the environment, the President said Ghanaians ought to recognise the danger the country faced by the alarming degradation of the environment and work to protect the water bodies, forests, lands and the oceans.
“We should learn and accept that we do not own the land but hold it in trust for generations yet unborn and, therefore, we have a responsibility to take good care of it and all it contains,” he advised.
The Ghanaian people, he said, had summoned the change, raised their voices in an unmistakable chorus, cast their votes without equivocation and had forced the change.
“Now we must do the work the season demands. To that work I now turn with all the authority of my office. I ask the Legislature and Judiciary to join with me. But no President, no Parliament, no Government can undertake this mission all by itself.
“We have an exuberant and young growing population that wants the best of what the world has to offer and will not settle for “Third World” or “developing world” standards. We have an adventurous people who are in a hurry for success. I have no doubt that the talents, energies, sense of enterprise and innovation of the Ghanaian can be harnessed to make Ghana the place where dreams come true,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said he was optimistic that his government would build a confident Ghana which was united, at peace with itself and took pride in its diversity.
Constitutional amendment
Hinting at possible constitutional amendments, he said Ghana had worked with the national Constitution for 24 years and that the areas that required change were now known.
“I believe a consensus is emerging that we must decentralise more. We must devolve more power, with corresponding resources, to the base of our political system and to our people in the regions and communities. We must trust the individual and collective wisdom and good sense of our people,” he urged.
He also called for more to be done in deepening the country’s democracy, saying: “It is time to make sure that we have a true separation of powers between the various arms of government. Our Parliament, the legislative arm of government, must grow into its proper role as an effective machinery for accountability and oversight of the Executive, and not be its junior partner.”