Akufo-Addo: Africa's march of democracy hard to reverse
Typically associated in international media with political
instability, disease, poverty, corruption, dictatorships and a lack of
human rights and democracy, African countries struggle to deconstruct
the stereotypes.
One of the few exceptions seems to be the Republic of Ghana.
Ghana today - at least on the surface - is enjoying
political stability, with a multiethnic population coming together in
peaceful democratic elections.
In 1957, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence from colonial rule.
"We had our problems early," Akufo-Addo tells Al Jazeera.
"After the volatility of the first 30-odd years after independence, the
people of Ghana ... made up their mind that they wanted a democratic
government."
Akufo-Addo took office on January 7, 2017, after winning
Ghana's seventh peaceful democratic elections since multiparty democracy
returned to the country in 1992.
"The determination of the Ghanaian people to go through
democratic principles and values has meant that election after election
has been stronger in terms of its credibility and its transparency - and
it has also meant that the willingness of the population to accept the
results of our electorate council has heightened," he says.
Elsewhere in the continent, democracy has been far less successful at taking root. In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta
is set to be sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, November 28 after
the country's supreme court rejected two petitions to nullify last
month's election results.
And this week in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe was forced to resign, ending his 37 years in power after members of his own ZANU-PF party forced him out with the backing of the army.
"It's a pity that the current political situation has
degenerated to the extent that the army is finding itself [required] to
come directly into play," Akufo-Addo says. "[That] can never be a
long-term solution, obviously ... I think at the end of the day, the
determination to engage, democratic values will triumph in Zimbabwe."
Still, the president of Ghana remains optimistic about Africa's future.
"I'm confident that the march of democracy in Africa is something that's going to be very difficult to reverse," he says.
Source: Al Jazeera
No comments
Your comments and Encouragement are welcome