Mr. Kufuor is a former President of the Republic of Ghana.
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Friday September 2, 2011.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has said current socio-political and economic event around the world is a vindication of the ideals pursued by the fore fathers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“Dr. JB Danquah and Professor KA Busia and other leaders laid down their lives in defense of fundamental human rights, free speech and property owning democracy among others. Today look at what is happening across the globe particularly in the Arab world where everybody is pushing for freedom…it is a vindication of the ideals that they stood for in independence struggle and the new Ghana.”
The former President was speaking as a guest of honour at the maiden Liberty Lecture in Accra organized by Danquah Institute (DI), a media, research and policy analysis group under the themed “Building a society of opportunities” addressed by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Flag bearer of the opposition NPP.
According to DI, the lecture has been instituted to celebrate and recognize “the contributions of the several people and many others that led to March 6, 1957, the birth of Ghana from the Gold Coast.”
He said the contributions of NPP fore bearers in the socio-political and economic development of Ghana cannot be underestimated saying “truth is truth…if you suppress the truth it will surely come out.”
President Kufuor said in the short eight years reign of the NPP “we achieved a paradigm shift without which I tell you, Ghana wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today. And we were able to do it, again, following the vision and beliefs of the old people. Unfortunately the government was betrayed and this is why Ghana is in the current hardships and stagnation.”
He said judging from the way and manner the world has developed, it has become apparent that the world has no time for visionless leaders adding “the global village is already here and it is a village that hasn’t got time for visionless leadership.
“The NPP is only pleading to the entire country of Ghana to hear. We are like missionaries; we are not in there for ourselves, we are [here] to lift Ghana up to be the true beacon. It is not fanciful politics we want to do. Ours is a mission to put Ghana on a pedestal to be the real beacon, not just for the sub-region of West Africa but even for the entire continent of Africa to see that truly Africa can come into its own to take its rightful place side by side with the other continents.”
He said “the NPP can do it so please let NPP come and continue where it left off so that all of us will be restored to the aspirations and the opportunities that we heard the flagbearer say.”
“God willing when we come back next year we are going to get back [to our works] so that the truth our government achieved for our country will prove to be like the proverbial cork: no matter how deep you try to suppress it under water it will shoot up,” President Kufuor said.
Professor Paaku Kludze, a retired Supreme Court judge who gave an overview of the significance of August 4, the basis for the lecture, said it has become fashionable for people to twist the facts of the country’s history saying “we must rise above the conception that truth is an opinion.”
“The struggle for independence for Ghana did not start in 1947 or 1949. Our forebears started the struggle way back in the 19th Century and you cannot change these facts.
He said Ghanaians have been afflicted with what he called “selective amnesia” whenever the history of Ghana is told saying “a cow is cow…you cannot do anything about it.”
Professor Yaw Twumasi who chaired the lecture said the DI is using the platform to consolidate the country’s democracy.
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