President Nana Akuf-Addo
PRESIDENT Akufo-Addo has stated that the government will resist “adventurers and “restless spirits” who are seeking to exploit the current difficulties confronting the nation to shortcut his administration through a military intervention.
According to him, the government will employ “all legitimate means in a democracy” to maintain Ghana’s free, open system of governance, which is “respectful of human rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability.”
Delivering a speech at the country’s 65th independence anniversary celebration in Cape Coast over the weekend, President Akufo-Addo said, “Ghana deserves to put the initial decades of, perhaps, understandable turbulence and instability in her history firmly behind her, to enable the development of our nation to proceed in conditions of freedom, order, peace and stability, which have been the happy hallmarks of the Fourth Republic.”
“There are some restless spirits amongst us who, seeking to exploit the current difficulties confronting the nation, claim to have lost confidence in our democratic system to effect a peaceful, constitutional change in the governance of our state.”
He continued, “Either the absence of faith in the prospects of a democratic alternative to the current government, or their impatience to wield executive authority, is the factors driving their appetite for the shortcut of military intervention.”
“Whatever be the case, they seem ready to jeopardise the hard-won reputation of our country as a beacon of democracy and stability in Africa, and, indeed, in the world, in order to gratify their personal ambitions; ambitions which show little or no respect for the capacity of the Ghanaian people to change their government peacefully through the ballot box, something they have done on three separate occasions in the 29-year life of the Fourth Republic,” he said, adding, “The great majority of us, who are committed to democratic values and democratic institutions, will continue to resist the claims of these adventurers, and employ all legitimate means in a democracy to maintain our free, open system of governance, which is respectful of human rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability.”
President Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians that his government was also determined to “do everything within its power” to guarantee the nation’s territorial integrity, and ensure the safety of citizens.
“I urge you, my fellow Ghanaians, also to cooperate with our security services, and give them maximum support in the discharge of their important duties. I do not underestimate the challenges with which we are confronted with. But I am strong in my conviction that we can overcome them since Ghanaians are capable,” he stressed.
He again said he believed in the can-do spirit of Ghanaians, the first people in sub-Saharan Africa, to “rid ourselves of the shackles of colonialism and imperialism.”
“Ours is a bright future, and I am confident that the years ahead of Mother Ghana will be great. Let us work together, and bounce back together. The Battle is the Lord’s!!” he posited.
Why Difficulties
The President explained that for the last two years, Ghanaians have seen, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disruption of the global supply chain and the global financial system opening up a huge funding gap in virtually all countries, the erosion of fiscal space, the widening of the fiscal deficit, and increased public debt levels.
“Simply put, there are difficulties everywhere in the world. We are seeing increasing global freight rates, rising crude oil prices, which means rising fuel prices, rising costs of items on the market as a result of inflationary pressures, and the depreciation of currencies,” he elucidated further.
He stated that in as much as these are happening in all countries around the world, the government, which he leads, has not thrown up its hands in despair.
“We are not looking for the easy way out. We are determined to become even more self-reliant, and, in the process, find Ghanaian solutions to Ghanaian problems. Already, we have made progress towards this end,” he asserted.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu & Vincent Kubi