President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has acknowledged the positive contributions that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has made to the development of the country.
He stated that though there is still work to be done on building institutions of the state Ghana’s democracy is worth fighting for.
“It is up to us to find a way to accommodate each other and our differences to make things work for the benefit of the Ghanaian people,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo reserved the commendation for the NDC in a very conciliatory State of the Nation Address (SONA) he delivered to Parliament on Wednesday 30th March, 2022.
Ghana, he said, has come through a long and tortuous journey to arrive at the present consensus on multi-party democracy.
He said, “The last 29 years of our 4th Republic have shown that this has been the most productive period since our independence.”
“Both the major political parties of the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC have made positive contributions to this development.”
The President expressed displeasure at what he said are attempts by certain elements to advocate coup d’états as an answer to the problems of the nation.
He observed it might also well be that coup d’états have re-entered the discourse because of the turmoil in neighbouring states.
“The West African Region is suddenly back in the international headline news for all the wrong reasons; we are back again as the region of political instability and the place for coups. Long and bitter experience led ECOWAS to its current stance of zero tolerance for military coups.”
“We, in Ghana, know the cost of instability; it leads to the exodus of our artisans and professionals, and the emptying of teachers from our schools,” he said.
According to the President, at every traffic light junction in big towns and cities, the results of instability in neighbouring countries are visible with the influx of refugees into Ghana.
He stated Ghana does not want to be an island of peace and stability in a region of turmoil and does not aspire to be prosperous in the midst of want and poverty.
“We want a stable and prosperous Ghana in a stable and prosperous region. We should use our Chairmanship and membership of ECOWAS, our membership of the African Union, our membership of the Commonwealth, our membership of La Francophonie, and our position as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council to advance these goals.”
These, he said, are critical governance issues that have featured in recent public discussions and therefore need addressing.
