The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said strength of the country’s democracy is dependent on the credibility of its electoral process and respect for the will of the people.
He, has, therefore called for support for the Electoral Commission (EC) to discharge its mandate efficiently, especially in the conduct of elections to solidify the country’s self-rule.
“We, in Ghana, must continue to urge the EC to work to ensure that all stakeholders in the electoral process, that is the citizenry, civil society and political parties, do not have lingering questions about the legitimacy of an election,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said this in a televised address to the nation on Friday to mark the 30th anniversary of Ghana’s Fourth Republic which started in 1992 with the coming into force of the 1992 Constitution.
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to have gained independence from British colonial rule in 1957. Its constitutional rule under the first, second and third republics were curtailed by military interventions.
President Akufo-Addo attributed the longevity and peace of the Fourth Republic, to the respect for the principles of democratic accountability, human rights and the rule of law.
“We have every right to be proud of this, and the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Fourth Republic should inspire us, even further, to hold on to this status,” he stated.
That development, according to the President, had “inspired the longest period of stable constitutional governance in our history, with a consensus emerging strongly that the democratic form of governance is preferable, and the benefits are showing”.
President Akufo-Addo indicated that, in spite of the political gains made, the country ought to remain focused and work assiduously to protect its democratic credentials.
“By all accounts, we have come a long way, and we should not take it for granted that everybody in Ghana has accepted democracy as the preferred mode of governance.
“There are those who would rather have authoritarian rule, because they claim our country is underdeveloped and democracy is cumbersome, and we need to get things done in a hurry.
“We still have some work to do to convince such people that we are all safer under democracies,” the President said. -GNA
