Akufo-Addo Receives AAI’s ‘National Achievement Award’
Steve Pfeiffer and Kofi Appenteng presenting the Award |
President Nana Akufo-Addo has received the Africa-America Institute’s
(AAI) National Achievement Award, on behalf of the people of Ghana, at a
ceremony on Tuesday, September 19, 2017, at the New York Public
Library.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the award, which recognises
Ghana’s status as a free, democratic and stable country in Africa, is as
a result of the contributions of successive generations of Ghanaian
patriots who played invaluable roles in establishing the free, sovereign
and democratic Ghana that has been honoured by the AAI.
Delivering his acceptance speech, the President noted that over the
course of Ghana’s long, tortuous history it has emerged that ”the spirit
of the Ghanaian, in his or her quest for peace, progress and
prosperity, cannot be quenched. We are a determined lot, who cannot be
deterred.”
Despite taking a while to reach a consensus on the establishment of
multi-party constitutional, democratic rule in Ghana, he added that
“today, after quite some time, we are recognised as a beacon of
democracy and stability on the African continent. We are a country
governed by the principles of democratic accountability, respect for
individual liberties and human rights, and the rule of law, an aspiring
modern nation.”
It is for this reason that President Akufo-Addo indicated that, in
the aftermath of the disputed elections of 2012, “we demonstrated
clearly that it was not the ambitions of Akufo-Addo, or the fortunes of
the New Patriotic Party, that we sought to promote. The stability and
progress of Ghana and the enhancement of her democracy were the
paramount considerations that guided our every action in those difficult
days.”
Ghana’s future
President Akufo-Addo told the packed gathering that the time has now
come for Ghana to move on even further to deepen her democracy.
“It is time to make sure that we have a genuine 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. Our
Judiciary must inspire confidence in the citizens, so we can all see the
courts as the ultimate, impartial arbiters when disputes arise, as they
would,” he stressed.
Additionally, he noted that Ghana must also decentralise more, and
devolve more power with corresponding resources to the base of her
political system and to her people, in the regions and communities.
“We must trust the individual and collective wisdom and good sense of
our people. We must create wealth and restore happiness to our nation.
We can only do this when we have a powerful private sector, with a
strong sense of enterprise, innovation and creativity, and an educated
and skilled population that is capable of competing in the global
economy,” President Akufo-Addo added.
It is for this reason that his government, he told the gathering, is
insisting on making basic education, i.e. kindergarten through primary
school to junior high school to senior high school, free in all the
country’s public schools, to guarantee access to quality basic education
to all of Ghana’s children, irrespective of the circumstances of their
birth.
“In doing so, we must expand our horizons and embrace science and
technology as critical tools for our development. We want to create a
society of opportunities and incentives. We have to build a confident
Ghana which is united, at peace with itself and takes pride in its
diversity, and which continues to pursue its pan-African vocation,” he
added.
Tribute to successive generations
President Akufo-Addo paid tribute to a tall list of Ghanaians who made the receipt of the award possible.
This list included the members of the Aborigines Rights Protection
Society; the great nationalists who gathered at Saltpond to inaugurate
the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC); Ghana’s first President, Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah, and leading stalwarts of the government of the
Conventions Peoples Party.
The President also paid tribute to some others, who are not listed
among the forefront fighters for political freedom, but who fought
equally hard for our cultural integrity and identity of who we are as
Ghanaians, such as Philip Gbeho, Ephraim Amu, Theodosia Okoh, Amon
Kotei, Kofi Antubam, Ayi Kwei Armah and Ama Ata Aidoo, Esther Ocloo,
Dede Asikisham, Akua Shorshorshor, and other pioneer entrepreneurs.
He also paid tribute to his predecessor Presidents of the country,
”all of whom contributed in their diverse ways, during their respective
tenures of office, variously to the Ghana we are celebrating tonight,
the Ghana of Freedom and Justice, the stirring words of our national
motto.”
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