It is with a heavy heart that
I address the Assembly today. Just before I left Ghana
to attend this general debate, I learned of the terrorist
attack that took place in Nairobi. I was shocked and
deeply saddened to hear of the many lives that were lost
to those senseless and cowardly acts of violence. As the
death toll increased, so too did my grief, knowing that
each additional number symbolized one more human
life. Those numbers symbolized individuals who
may have been strangers to those of us here but were
of prime significance in the lives of the people who
loved them — their parents, children, husbands, wives,
friends and colleagues.
Soon enough, I got word that one of the people
massacred was a person of significance in my life
and in the lives of so many other Ghanaians. Kofi
Awoonor was a 78-year-old gentleman who had served
his country loyally as a poet and professor, ambassador
to Brazil and Cuba, and Chairman of our Council of
State, a presidential advisory body. Professor Awoonor
had once even been our country’s envoy to the United
Nations. On this fateful day, however, Professor
Awoonor was in Nairobi to perform his poetry at a
writers’ conference. He had travelled there with his
son, and they had decided before the day’s scheduled
events to do what should have been one of the most
ordinary and uneventful of activities — to make a stop
at a shopping mall.
Unfortunately, what happened that day at the
Westgate Premier Shopping Mall was anything but
ordinary. Professor Awoonor’s life was taken from
him and those who loved him, just as the lives of
dozens of others were taken away from them and their
communities. Each of them had a unique story and
accomplishments or aspirations for which they will
be remembered. Professor Awoonor’s son, though
injured, was among the many who were lucky enough
to escape the attack. It is a day they will never forget.
They will carry the scars, physical and emotional, with
them. We who watched from a distance should never
allow ourselves to forget, because we have also been
irrevocably marked by this tragedy.
When independence was upon us and our
possibilities felt endless, the world saw how brightly
Africa could shine. Then, for decades, that light was
dimmed. There was a time when killing seemed almost
commonplace in Africa. Indeed, there are plenty of
graves that remain unmarked. There was a time when
the ruthlessness of dictators seemed to be the order of the
day. For decades, the corruption, greed and depravity of
a few caused the suffering of an entire continent. We so
easily could have succumbed to the wars, the poverty
and the diseases, but we did not. We staggered our way
through, year after year, and eventually we made it. We
have survived.
Last year when I addressed the General Assembly
(see A/67/PV.9), I began with the assurance that I had
come with good news from Ghana, with stories of
success from the African continent. This year, it gives
me great pleasure to do the same — even on the heels
of the dastardly terrorist attack — because I know
that today’s Africa will not be divided or deterred by
the heinous crimes of those who wish to disrupt our
progress. I know that our borders will no longer be
used to undermine the brotherhood and sisterhood of
our citizens.
The days of massacres must remain in our past.
Our rivers will no longer run red. Our children must be
students now; we will no longer allow their childhoods
to be stolen from them by those who wish to turn them
into soldiers. Africa is standing tall, walking confidently
towards political stability, walking confidently towards
economic prosperity, walking proudly towards ethnic
and religious harmony and coexistence. There is no
place in today’s Africa for hatred and intolerance and
the murder of innocent people — not anymore, not ever
again. So we will mourn our dead. We will console
ourselves and each other through our grief. We cannot
allow terror to defeat us. That must strengthen our
resolve. Our stride will not be broken.
Last year from this stage, I also declared Ghana’s
resolve to be a beacon of peace and democracy in the
West African subregion. On behalf of the citizens whom
I serve, I promised the world that Ghana would not
allow its territory to be used in any manner whatsoever
to destabilize other nations. Ghana has been steadfast
in its cooperation with its regional neighbours to
maintain the security of those nations that are enjoying
stability and to restore security to those, such as
Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, that have recently emerged
from turmoil. Currently, Côte d’Ivoire is in a stage of
rebuilding. The recent overtures towards reconciliation
made by President Ouattara are a major step towards
bridging the country’s political divide. After its own
bout with terror, Mali made a solid return to democracy
by conducting an election that all observers, even the
sceptics and the cynics, hailed as being free, fair and
peaceful.
West Africa has seen enough war and strife. We
want peace and security to persist in our subregion.
Ghana will continue to play its role in strengthening the
Economic Community of West African States to make
sure that it is able to meet that objective.
With all that I have said in my statement today, I
am sure it will not come as a surprise to anyone that
Ghana enthusiastically threw its support behind the
Arms Trade Treaty adopted by the General Assembly
at the sixty-seventh session. International trade in
conventional arms and ammunition must be regulated.
We like to mention how the world has become a global
village, especially when speaking of technology, culture
and travel. The ease of communication in that global
village also exists for warmongers and terrorist groups,
who are using it to recruit new members, expand their
cells, create intercontinental networks, obtain weapons
and conceal their identities and locations. If we are to
fight back, we must also work cooperatively. Nations in
the developed world must align themselves with nations
in the developing world. We must form partnerships
and work together. Ghana is prepared to do that. We
have signed the Arms Trade Treaty and we intend to do
everything possible to see that it is ratified in a timely
manner.
Fledgling democracies tend to be fragile. Their
limits are still being tested; their characteristics are
still being defined. Democracy is not a one-size-fits-all
venture, nor is it a one-time event. It is a system that
takes decades to build, a process that pushes a country
towards a perfection it will never reach, but countries
must try nonetheless. This past year, the limits of
Ghana’s democracy were tested, and I am proud to
report that we passed with flying colours.
The results of our recent elections were contested.
Since our return to constitutional rule, Ghana has
conducted six successful elections. Last year’s elections
were the first whose results were formally challenged
and heard by the Supreme Court. What made that
situation noteworthy was the reliance of all parties
involved on the rule of law. The proceedings were
televised for the sake of transparency. The verdicts were
readily accepted, and there was not a single reported
incident of violence.
Ghana’s victory is not an aberration. Other
countries, like Kenya, have had similar experiences.
That indicates that democratic institutions in Africa are
growing stronger. It indicates that the balance of power
in African countries is shifting from the authority of a
sole individual to the more equitable process of properly
designed systems. Strong institutions are the hallmark
of every nation’s stability. They are crucial tools in the
fight for human rights.
It is our intention to bring an end to youth
unemployment. In Ghana today, we are about to launch
the Youth Jobs and Enterprise Development Fund,
a programme that will provide young people with
entrepreneurial skills and access to the funds needed
to establish businesses of their own or expand existing
ones, thereby creating new employment opportunities
for themselves.
Six of the ten fastest growing economies in the
world today are on the African continent. However,
that growth has not yet been translated into sustainable
employment opportunities. Over the course of the past
decade, African economies created over 37 million
wage-paying jobs, yet 63 per cent of workers remain
trapped in low-paying subsistence or self-employment
endeavours. With those realities come the very real
possibilities of income instability, exclusion from
the benefits of economic growth and social security
benefits tied to formal sector employment.
Africa has a fast-growing population, more than
50 per cent of which is below the age of 35. That means
we must create more jobs for our growing numbers of
youth. They must have opportunities available to them.
We cannot do that unless we transform the economies
of Africa. It all comes down to value. We must value
our resources, including our human resource — we
must value our people.
We cannot continue to be exporters of raw materials
and primary produce. We need to add value to our
exports. We cannot continue to export raw cocoa beans
in Ghana; what we need to do instead is process more
of those beans into value-added products. We cannot
continue to export unrefined gold; we need to add value
to our gold exports. We cannot continue to export oil
and gas; we need to integrate that industry into our
economy; we need to process petroleum products and
produce power with the gas. We cannot continue to
export bauxite and then in return import alumina to
feed our local aluminium smelter; we need to work
towards creating an integrated bauxite and aluminium
industry in Ghana.
In that way, by keeping the concept of value at the
forefront of our economy, we can create new jobs for
our young people. We can do that with local and foreign
investors who share our vision. Often the rest of the
world wrongly assumes that we in Africa do not know
our worth. But we do. It is not sympathy we want; it is
partnership — and the ability to stand on our own feet.
It is not handouts we are in search of; it is opportunities.
We have already shown that with time and the right
opportunity, Africa can make it.
Ghana achieved the Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) targets for reducing poverty and hunger far
ahead of the scheduled date of 2015. We are on track for
achieving MDGs 2, 3, and 6 as well. School enrolment,
gender parity and the reduction of HIV/AIDS have
all seen dramatic progress and statistical shifts as a
result of the work to reach our targets. While we are
lagging behind in MDGs 4, 5, and 7 — infant mortality,
maternal health and environmental sustainability — the
figures show that there has been a vast improvement.
Since 2000, the number of maternal deaths for every
100,000 births has decreased by more than half, from
740 to 320. We recognize that when we are talking
about human lives, even a 50 per cent decrease is too
little; it is not enough. That is why in 2010 we launched
the MDG Accelerated Framework and Country Action
Plan.
Women account for more than 50 per cent of
Ghana’s population. We believe that empowering them
through education and encouraging them to take full
control of their reproductive rights will help us not only
to attain the MDGs faster, but also to build a better
nation. It is not enough to put girls in school and allow
them just enough education to be deemed literate; we
must keep them in school. Removing teenaged girls
from school for any reason, let alone to marry them off,
is an unacceptable practice that must end.
African women have always been the backbone
of our societies. Let us imagine the change they could
effect in our countries if we would only help them to
reach their full potential. As a President and a father, I
owe it to my children — my sons and my daughter — and
all the children of Ghana to create a country where
they may walk with their dignity intact and heads held
high, standing shoulder to shoulder with the children of
Europe, South America, Asia, North America and the
rest of the world.
Ghana is encouraged by the new initiative to resolve
the Israeli-Palestinian issue. We are still firm in our
belief that an independent Palestinian State, existing
side by side with a peaceful and secure Israeli State,
is a desirable outcome that we must all support and
work towards. In working towards that goal, we must
realize that the continuous construction of settlements
in Palestinian territory increasingly shuts the door on a
two-State solution.
Ghana calls once again for the embargo against
Cuba to be lifted. It is a relic of the Cold War era and
has no place in our current global dispensation.
We have come a long way since the end of the last
global war, yet the makeup of the Security Council
does not reflect those developments. Ghana therefore
supports the reform of the Security Council.
Ghana will continue to pursue the principle of
constructive engagement in our relations with the
other countries in the world. We are fully committed
to promoting honest global partnership that is informed
by mutual respect and reciprocity.
In closing, I would like once again to pay my
respects to those who have lost their lives in Kenya,
Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria,
Mali, Somalia, Turkey, India, the United States and all
the other places where terrorists have attacked just this
year alone. The reason we are all gathered here today is
to find the ways and the means to create a better, more
peaceful and prosperous world.