His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana remarks at the Symposium in honor of Ma Mary N. Brownell

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA,

NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO,

AT THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOMEGOING OF Ma MARY N. BROWNELL, ON MONDAY, 14^TH MARCH 2022.

I thank the Chief Executive Officer of the New Economic Foundation, my good friend, Miatta Fahnbulleh, and her executives for organising this Symposium, and for the invitation extended to me to deliver this brief keynote address on the theme “Peacebuilding, Human Rights, Good Governance and Security”.

I am very happy to be part of this symposium, which is commemorating the 5th anniversary of the homecoming of Mary Brownell. I had the great fortune to meet her when she came to stay in our country during the times of troubles in Liberia in the 1990s, which sent thousands of Liberians into exile in Ghana. It was impossible to forget her – tall, with a powerful presence, lively personality, outstanding intellect and, above all, a great commitment to the promotion of young girls and women, with an unwavering belief in the value of women to the development of society. Fearless, she had a great sense of humour and gave us her extraordinary children, that is the two (2) I know, Boima and, especially, Miatta, who has done her mother proud by helping to organise this occasion.

Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that peace, human rights, good governance and security walk-in tandem. I might add that respect is often the unstated but constant companion of peace, human rights, good governance and security; and wherever these four go, respect always follows. When a country is peaceful, is committed to upholding good governance and respect for human rights, and provides security for its citizens, that country is respected.

If the African continent is to take its rightful place in the world, it has to shed its image of instability and overcome the wars that have plagued us for so long. Those who seek to play meaningful leadership roles in Africa would necessarily have to prioritise the establishment of a peaceful atmosphere on the continent. I do not talk here about the peace that we find in the cemetery, nor do I wish for us the security of the bonded slave market.

For a continent where political independence was necessarily characterised by a language of struggle and war, it is a crying shame that many countries have had more violence and instability after independence and liberation, than during the struggles and wars that brought independence.

Not to put too fine a point on it, we have not got our politics right. The fights between various political groupings after independence have often turned out to be more vicious than the fight to throw out the colonialists and imperialists. Sometimes, these fights have not really been political at all, but have been merely the continuation or resumption of ancient feuds, clothed in modern political or pseudo ideological garb.

For us, in Ghana, political instability described much of the early decades of our independence, and we became notorious for sampling every and any type of political experiment. The instability was coupled with the collapse of the economy, and led to the exodus from the country of many of our citizens and professionals, a situation with which you, in Liberia, are also familiar.

I am happy to state that, for the past twenty-nine (29) years of our 4^th Republic, we have enjoyed political stability under a multi-party constitution, and the longest period of stable, constitutional governance in our hitherto tumultuous history. The separation of powers is now a real phenomenon in Ghanaian life, promoting accountable governance. The fight against corruption has gone beyond propaganda, and is demanding of public officials higher levels of acceptable conduct. Efficient public services are now within reach. We have, in this period, experienced, through the ballot box, the transfer of power from one ruling political party to another on three occasions in conditions of peace and stability, without threatening the foundations of the state. The Ghanaian people have manifested in this era their deep attachment to the principles of democratic accountability, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the rule of law. It has also brought with it more or less systematic economic growth, and boosted immensely our self-confidence.

We are nowhere near where we ought to be of course, especially if you consider that we have just celebrated our 65^th independence anniversary, but we are able to say that we are making significant progress.

Ladies and gentlemen, a major threat to the realisation of peace, human rights, good governance and security in Africa has to be the challenge posed by terrorism and violent extremism. Over the years, we have learnt, most often through bitter experience, that terrorism and violent extremism are not restricted to particular geographic locations or jurisdictions, as the impact of a single terrorist incident in one part of the world resonates throughout the world.

The fight against terrorism and violent extremism cannot be limited only to military means, vital as they are. Broader policies must also be put in place to create opportunities and jobs for our youth if we are to deal successfully with their root causes.

Firstly, through education. We have, as a matter of great urgency, to ensure access to education for all our youth, especially our young girls. We are told that 89 million young Africans of school-going age are not in school. That has to stop and stop now. In Ghana, at great cost, we have, since my assumption of office in January 2017, instituted a system of free secondary education, which has increased enrolment by nearly 50%. 1.6 million Ghanaian children are currently beneficiaries of the Free Senior High School policy, the highest number of pupils in secondary school in our history. The cost of providing free secondary school education will be cheaper than the cost of the alternative of an uneducated and unskilled, youthful workforce that has the capacity to retard our development and to pose a threat to the peace and stability of our nation.

Secondly, through the structural transformation of our economies. With the majority of the continent’s economies dependent on the production and export of raw materials, it is not surprising that our youth want to leave in search of greener pastures elsewhere in economies that generate more jobs. We cannot continue travelling this worn path of the limited success of being exporters of raw materials. We have to embark urgently on the structural transformation of our economies. The only way to ensure prosperity for our populations in Africa is through value addition activities, in other words, through industrial development with modernised agricultures, in transformed and diversified economies. We must rapidly leave behind the old agrarian economies, embrace the technological and digital potential of the new, modern economies, and, thereby, give opportunities, jobs and hope to our young people, to live dignified, productive lives here in Africa.

Thirdly, through good governance. It is important that we promote and develop, on the continent, a system and culture of accountable governance, free of corruption, whereby our people are governed in accordance with the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability. Such a system requires building strong institutions of the state, such as well-resourced Parliaments and Judiciaries, efficient law enforcement agencies, and effective security forces, that see their responsibilities and allegiances to the wider public interest, not just to the conveniences of the government of the day. Innovative, creative mobilisation and disciplined use of public resources are, therefore, of the utmost importance in this struggle for national development. It can be done.  

It is my fervent wish that we leave this year’s Symposium with a renewed sense of purpose and a clear strategy on how to build prosperous and progressive countries, essential to the socio-economic development of Africa. That is how we can help fulfil the vision and goals of Mary Brownell’s life.

I believe strongly that, despite its numerous challenges, Africa is on the cusp of building a great, new civilisation, which will unleash the considerable energies and huge potential of the African peoples, so that we will make our own unique contribution to the growth of the world civilisation. 

I thank, once again, the organisers of this event for this opportunity, and may Ma. Mary Brownell continue to rest in perfect peace.

God bless Mother Africa and make her great and strong. I thank you for your kind attention.