Ghana

On behalf of the delegation of Ghana to the twelfth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, I bring to the members cordial greetings from the Government and people of Ghana. The members of my delegation and I consider that under your wise guidance, Mr. President, the deliberations at this session will be conducted in a spirit of friendliness and good will and for the mutual benefit of all the peoples of the world. 54. On 6 March of this year, Ghana became a free, independent and sovereign State. Before that date Ghana had been a colonial territory known as the Gold Coast and had been ruled by the United Kingdom for nearly 120 years. The varied experiences of our people under the colonial system of administration during this long period are a matter of recorded history. However, under the guidance and leadership of Mr. Kwame Nkrumah, the Prime Minister of Ghana, independence was achieved without bloodshed, but rather through the processes of peaceful negotiation and in a spirit of tolerance, mutual understanding and co-operation between the people of Ghana and the people of the United Kingdom. 55. I venture to say that perhaps it is from this background of experience that the new State of Ghana may hope to make a useful contribution to the solution of the problems that now afflict mankind and also perhaps to our collective efforts to maintain peace and security between the nations of the world. 56. The Government and people of Ghana owe a debt of gratitude to the United Nations. In the first place, it was the understanding of our problems and the actions taken by the Members of the United Nations that made it possible for a realistic and democratic solution to be found for the problem of Togoland under British administration, which is now unified with the independent and sovereign State of Ghana by the expressed wishes of the people of Togoland themselves. 57. In the second place, most of the countries represented in this Assembly have done great honour to Ghana by sending delegations to our independence celebrations in the early part of March of this year. Those countries which were not able to be represented by delegations have also done us great honour by sending us their good wishes. 58. Thirdly, on the recommendation of the Security Council, on 8 March of this year [668th meeting] the General Assembly unanimously voted in favour of the admission of Ghana to membership in the United Nations, It is this action, or expression of good will and confidence by the Members of the United Nations, that has made it possible for the new State of Ghana to be represented in the Assembly. 59. For the three reasons I have stated, the Government and people of Ghana consider that the United Nations and its Member States have done a great honour to Ghana, and for this we are grateful. It was the desire of our Prime Minister, Mr. Kwame Nkrumah that he should attend the first regular session of the General Assembly to be held after Ghana became independent and was admitted to membership, in order to express personally the sincere appreciation and gratitude of the Government and people of Ghana for all that the United Nations has done for us in the past. Mr. Nkrumah regrets that it has not been possible for him to come here in person at this time. He has, therefore, instructed my delegation to convey his appreciation and gratitude, as well as the appreciation and gratitude of the Government and people of Ghana for the assistance and good will shown by the Members to my country. 60. I am further instructed to say that the Government of Ghana will endeavour to uphold the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations, as enunciated in the Charter, and is determined to support the agreed decisions of the United Nations. Ghana is prepared to make its contribution, however small, in our collective effort to promote and maintain international peace and security. 61. We believe that by means of co-operation between the Member States of this Organization we shall all be able to work together to make the United Nations the fulfilment of the hopes of many millions of people throughout the world, to the end that in our time and for several generations to come the peoples of the world may live together in peace and security, in harmony and prosperity. 62. In its relations with other States, Ghana desires to pursue a policy of peace, friendliness and neighbourliness with all nations. We desire to cultivate and maintain friendly relations with all nations wherever possible, and to be enemy to none. We believe that, whatever differences may exist in their approach to national or international issues, it should be possible for the nations of the world to develop a spirit of accommodation and tolerance in the interest of international peace and security and for the common good of mankind. 63. Again, our Prime Minister has always stated that we consider our independence to be meaningless unless it is closely linked up with the freedom and ultimate liberation of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the African continent who are still struggling to free themselves from colonial domination by foreign Powers. In this regard, we consider that Ghana has a special responsibility and obligation towards all African peoples or peoples of African descent throughout the world who are still struggling to free themselves from foreign rule, or even who, by the mere reason of their colour, are denied the enjoyment of the very elementary civil and political rights which the constitutions of their own States guarantee to all their citizens. 64. I should like to request all Members of the United Nations to take note that the new State of Ghana is concerned with the freedom of all African peoples and also with the treatment that is meted out to all peoples of African descent, wherever they may be in any part of the world. We appeal to the conscience of the nations, great or small, to join in the crusade for the observance of the fundamental human rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. 65. In the view of my delegation, certain incidents or situations which sometimes appear to be, or are described as, the internal affairs of individual States, can be a potential danger and threat to international peace and security. We consider that there can be aggression against humanity, even when armed force has not been used. We also consider it to be an aggression against humanity even where, within any State, fundamental human rights and freedoms are denied to any section of the national community on the ground of race and colour, as it is the case in some countries in the world today. Perhaps within the framework of this reasoning, it may be necessary for us to reconsider and redefine our approach to the whole theory of aggression as a concept in international relations. 66. On the attainment of independence, Ghana, by its own free will, decided to join the Commonwealth of Nations. We value our membership in this free association of independent States because, in our view, it is an example of association of free and equal nations for the promotion of international peace and security, and we wish to support such an organization for as long as it lives up to the standards of sound democratic principles and respect for the sovereignty of nations. 67. It is the hope of the Government of Ghana that by co-operation with the other independent States of Africa, an African personality in international affairs can be evolved. It is this hope that has prompted the desire to arrange a conference of representatives of the independent States of Africa. This conference, which, it is expected, will take place in Ghana early next year, is intended to provide a much needed opportunity for representatives of the independent States of Africa to meet to exchange ideas and to discuss matters of common concern and interest to all the peoples of Africa. We hope that the deliberations of the proposed conference will be useful not only to the independent States which take part in it, but also to the other millions of our fellow Africans in other parts of the continent who are still struggling to be free from foreign rule. 68. In our contact with the United Nations, even before Ghana became independent, there has developed a tradition of cordial relations and co-operation. The Government of Ghana hopes that these cordial relations will continue to grow even more now that Ghana is independent. 69. On behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, my delegation would wish to commend the United Nations and its various agencies for the work that has been accomplished in the past; and we hope that all the Member nations will continue to co-operate in our collective efforts to maintain peace in the world. 70. We have faith in the dignity of the human, individual and in the unquenchable vitality of the human spirit. Ghana will co-operate with all States in this Assembly of nations in an effort to establish a world fellowship of peace and security.