John Mahama at the event
FORMER PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has called for youth in Africa to be empowered with tools and skills they need to thrive in this fast-changing globalised world.
He wants young people on the continent to also be encouraged to take an active role in the governance of their countries.
Speaking at the 2022 Liberty University Convocation in Virginia, USA, the ex-President said, “We must collectively work to create an enabling environment for the optimal development of the talents of the youth.”
According to him, the issues and challenges of conflict, unemployment, gender, corruption, education, health, poverty, hunger in Africa and many developing countries are well-documented.
“What is relatively less discussed is the capacity of the institutions we have established and mandated to ensure that the government fulfills its social contract to the people in the spirit of fairness, justice, inclusiveness, and absolute accountability,” he indicated.
Mr. Mahama argued that absolute accountability, not just by the government, but by the institutions of state in service to the people and not themselves, will go a long way to remedy many of the systemic problems that affect African people.
“In Africa, we need ethical and moral uprightness as guiding principles, and a stoic fidelity to the truth and to do right by our people above all other considerations,” he asserted.
The Liberty University’s Convocation is one of the world’s largest gatherings of Christian students. Each year, the programme hosts more than 80 nationally known speakers from a variety of fields.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu