Speak Against Gbagbo – UK Minister Tells Ghana

Henry Bellingham is the United Kingdom Minister for Africa.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday February 21, 2011.
The visiting United Kingdom Minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham has said the Ghanaian leadership has every moral authority to speak out against Ivory Coast dictator Laurent Gbagbo who has decided not to relinquish power after losing an election.

“The Ghanaian leadership on democracy, religious tolerance, human rights and the rule of law stands out. You can speak with moral authority and experience and that is impossible to ignore or to discount as Western interference”, he explained.

Mr. Bellingham was speaking in Accra on Friday at an encounter organized for him by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) with Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Ministers of State, politicians, academia and civil society organizations all in attendance.

The visiting Minister for Africa who is also Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk in UK spoke on the topic “Shared prosperity, shared security and shared values: A solid foundation for the future.”

He said there will be about 20 elections this year on the continent and it was important for African leaders particularly those in the sub-region to collaborate to get former President Gbagbo to cede power to his rival Alhassane Quatarra who was declared winner by the Electoral Commission otherwise Mr. Gbagbo’s action could motivate others to misbehave.

“The situation in Ivory Coast makes it clear that the threat of violent undemocratic action by those who refuse to recognize the will of their people remains as real as ever.”

Asked about his reaction to President JEA Mills’ stance that Ghana should mind its own business with regards to the crises in Ivory Coast, Mr. Bellingham said: “I spoke to President Mills this morning and he reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment towards finding a peaceful solution to the challenge of undemocratic behaviour.

He said Ghana is committed towards the AU and ECOWAS Protocols on the Ivory Coast”
Praising Ghana for her democratic credentials, Mr. Bellingham said “former President Gbagbo’s actions can be held in stark relief to those of Ghana’s politicians. Your last election was one of the most closely contested I have heard of, coming down to a few thousands of votes. Yet both sides were clear that there are no winners when leaders put their own interests ahead of those of their people.”

“It is not just economic achievements that set Ghana out as a model for the region. Ghana’s prosperity is founded upon good governance, rule of law and is rightly held up as beacon of democracy in the region and across the continent – and it is not just saying it. President Obama’s first visit to sub-Saharan Africa was to Ghana for precisely this reason.”

He commended Ghana for making her voice heard in the Climate Change debate and urged them to keep “building upthis momentum”.

The Minister for Africa traced the history of UK/Ghana relationship saying “there is so much that binds Ghana and the UK: our people-to-people links, our shared values of democracy and rule of law, our aspirations for prosperity and security and our deep and genuine desire to tackle the world’s climate change dilemma.”

He said Ghana is one of UK’s priority markets in Africa and praised the government for weathering the global economic downturn far better than Europe and the United States.

When he took his turn, Vice President Mahama expressed the government’s appreciation to the UK for continuously supporting Ghana’s development programmes saying “we note with appreciation that this years this year alone the UK government is to give Ghana 36 million pounds from DFID to support the county’s budget.”