President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has once again urged Ghanaians to continue to embrace the basic values of the Constitution, founded on the principles of democratic accountability and respect for the rule of law, human rights and individual liberty and freedom.
He said the greater majority of the people believed those principles must form the bedrock of national development and individual prosperity.
In a video broadcast to commemorate the Constitution Day last Saturday, President Akufo-Addo, however, stressed that alongside the freedom guaranteed under the Constitution, “we must, with the same passion and commitment, uphold our individual and collective responsibility to contribute proactively towards the greater good of society.
This is the vision of a free society”.
“No society can be truly free unless its citizens feel the need to embrace both liberty and duty, hard work and compassion,” he added.
The Constitution Day, which replaced the Republic Day on July 1, was first marked in January 2019 with a public lecture delivered by Prof. Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, who was then the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The President has on many occasions emphasised the need to uphold the Constitution and democratic principles.
On the 31st anniversary of the 1992 Constitution, the President said Ghana was considered a beacon of democracy and stability in Africa, and the celebration of Constitution Day should inspire Ghanaians even further to hold on to this enviable status.
The President underscored the need to guarantee the longevity of the Fourth Republic and said as a Ghanaian who had spent his adult life fighting for both individual and collective rights, it was gratifying to note that the nation’s adherence to democracy had not waned.
“We know that there are no quick fixes to the challenges confronting us, and, as we have seen in recent times, democratic structures of governance are capable of accommodating the most difficult of circumstances,” he said.
Economy
The President added that happily the country had turned the corner on its economic situation, saying: “As we experience the rebound of the national economy, and we will continue to work strongly at the problems facing the nation, knowing that the solution, every four years, rests, in part, on the sovereign will of the Ghanaian people when you exercise your power to choose freely your leaders to manage the affairs of the country”.
Elections
President Akufo-Addo further noted that democracies were grounded on viable elections, and that this year, like the public had done on eight other preceding occasions, the country would go to the polls to elect the President, his successor.
He said it was the collective interest of Ghanaians to ensure that the rules and regulations for the conduct of this year’s elections were fair and transparent.
“No true democrat can disregard the importance of elections and the sanctity of the ballot.
“All stakeholders, that is the Electoral Commission, the political parties and their leaders, the electorate and citizenry, should work to ensure the consolidation of Ghanaian democracy, and help us maintain our pride of place on the continent as a model of democracy in Africa,” the President said.
Commitment
Pledging his commitment to ensure a free, fair and transparent election in December 2024, the President said: “It would not be under my watch that any adventurer will seek to torpedo the democratic path on which the country had embarked.
You have my word! Ghana will be the victor of such an outcome, not any individual party or candidate.
“At the end of it all, there should be no lingering doubt about the legitimacy of the election, and the winning candidates, on the conclusion of the process, should receive the unalloyed support of all.
That is how we can strengthen our democracy and the peace and stability of our nation,” he stated.
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