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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the international community that the world will have reason to be proud of Ghana after this year’s general elections are held on 7 December.
“We are well aware of the reputation that Ghana has built as a tolerant and functional democracy and we fully intend to nurture and enhance it,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo made the call when he addressed the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) yesterday via zoom from his office at the Jubilee House in Accra.
For the first time in the 75-year history of the UN, world leaders were unable to make the trip to New York for the world’s largest meeting of heads of state due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Instead, the high-level session was held virtually.
It was on the theme: “The future we want, the United Nations we need: Reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – Addressing COVID-19 through effective multilateral action.”
Elections 2020
The President said that he could say with great pride that despite the difficulties involved in holding elections during a pandemic, “I can say that all Ghanaians have agreed that we have to work together to ensure that elections are transparent, free, fair, safe and credible ”.
That, he explained, would be the eighth election since the country embarked on a constitutional government in its Fourth Republic in 1992, and that each of the polls had been an improvement over the previous ones, adding that Ghanaians looked forward to it. this year’s passing. peacefully, characteristic of the dignity of Ghana.
Ghana held elections in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and the next general elections will be held on December 7 this year, when the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously.
President Akufo-Addo said Ghanaians were prepared for the twin elections like everything else, even though politicking had been affected by the pandemic and parties were unable to campaign for votes with the approach they were used to.
Political parties, he said, were popularizing their messages through technology due to the global pandemic.
He said he had no doubt that at the end of the elections, Ghanaians would be proud of themselves, Africa would have good reason to be proud of Ghana, and the rest of the world would find lessons to learn from us.
Vaccine for COVID-19
The president said there should be no discrimination in the distribution of any COVID-19 vaccine if the world finds one.
“If the answer to this pandemic lies in finding a vaccine, that vaccine should be available to everyone, rich and poor alike, developed and developing, all races and all faiths. The virus has taught us that we are all at risk and that there is no special protection for the rich or a particular class, “he said.
He said the lessons of the pandemic were that the world came together and looked into the abyss together, and said that even as countries closed their borders and closed airports, humanity fell into the reality that they had to depend on each other in order to obtain out of trouble.
He explained that as long as the virus existed, any medical solutions that could be found should be available to all in aid of our common humanity.
President Akufo-Addo said that all the sacred economic rules by which the world had been urged to conduct business in the past century had been scrapped, at least for the time being, adding: “Indeed, all of our best laid plans They have proven to be useless when faced with the ravages of an unknown virus. “
Resolved
He said that Ghana, however, had reaped model successes in trying to defeat the virus through determined actions by the efforts of its government, with the cooperation and support of Ghanaians and the Grace of Almighty God.
Year of return
The president recounted that last year marked the 400th anniversary of the start of the barbaric transatlantic slave trade and the arrival of the first captured slaves from West Africa to America, and to mark that tragic anniversary, Ghana declared 2019 the Year of Return. .
He said Ghana extended a welcoming hand back to the African continent to the descendants of slaves, who made up the bulk of the black population in the Americas and the Caribbean, and that was enthusiastically welcomed and had a great time by all.
President Akufo-Addo said that Ghanaians lived with the sad reality that most of the abducted slaves on the continent were transported to the Americas and the Caribbean via forts that lie along its coastline, adding : “We owe it to their descendants to find a safe haven in Ghana if they need it.”
Mali
As president-elect of ECOWAS, the president said that one of the immediate tests the subregional body faced was the political situation and the destabilizing activities of terrorists and violent extremists in Mali, exacerbated by the coup that toppled the president. Ibrahim. Boubacar Keita.
He said the region had learned, through bitter experiences, that terrorism and violent extremism were not limited to particular geographic locations, as the impact of a single terrorist incident in one part of the world resonated around the world.
“It is incumbent upon the UN and indeed all member states to lend their support to the efforts being made by ECOWAS to restore normalcy in Mali and help us defeat the scourge of terrorism,” he said.
Background
The UN is celebrating its 75th anniversary at a time of great upheaval in the world, compounded by an unprecedented global health crisis with serious economic and social impacts.
The General Assembly will attempt to answer questions about whether the world will emerge stronger and better equipped to work together or whether mistrust and isolation will grow even more.
The world body wants this year to be a year of dialogue, when world leaders come together to discuss priorities as a human family and how to build a better future for all.
The UN views COVID-19 as a stark reminder of the need for cooperation across borders, sectors and generations.
“Our response will determine how quickly the world recovers, whether we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and how well we handle pressing challenges: from the climate crisis to pandemics, inequalities, new forms of violence and rapid changes in the technology and in our population, ”said the UN.
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