67th Independence Day celebration: Ghana beacon of hope - President

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has extolled Ghana’s democratic credentials, citing the country as a beacon of hope amid failing structures in fellow developing economies.

He said although the British granted Ghana its independence, the West African nation had developed on its own democratic values, defying the many failing systems around the subregion and on the continent to reach new heights of democratic governance.

He said democracy, as experienced by the country, was the work of Ghanaians, and that, for the past 31 years, Ghana had enjoyed peaceful democratic governance.

He indicated that every election that had taken place in Ghana had been an improvement on the previous ones and that the country had not experienced chaos after elections as it had been the case with other countries.

The President made the remarks when he addressed a parade of security services, pupils and students at this year's 67th National Independence Day anniversary celebration at the Youth Resource Centre in Koforidua yesterday.

The event, held on the theme: "Our Democracy, Our Pride”, had the President of Cote d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, as the special guest.

In attendance were the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; the Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkonoo; the Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, members of the diplomatic corps, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, Members of Parliament (MPs) and some top military personnel.

President Akufo-Addo said for the over 100 years of British rule, the British did not prepare Ghanaians for democratic governance.

He said many countries disintegrated due to electoral disputes.

On the conduct of elections, he said technology was a useful tool, hence Ghanaians must embrace it to make elections more transparent and acceptable.

He, however, noted that technology could also be used to manipulate and spread falsehood to influence public opinion.

He said on the whole, Ghana was doing well in its democratic dispensation.

With regard to Ghana's relationship with Cote d'Ivoire, President Akufo-Addo said he was happy that it had been cordial over the years and that they had been cooperating in the area of cocoa production and maritime issues.

He indicated that the strong bond of friendship and cooperation that existed between the two countries were evident in the two key developments.

The first, the President said, was an agreement entered into in 2017 which paid off in the cocoa sector.

That, he said, enabled the two countries to coordinate policies on cocoa of which they were the leading producers, accounting for 65 per cent of the world supply.

He said that had been very beneficial to cocoa farmers in both countries who received the highest price of a bag of cocoa.

The other agreement, President Akufo-Addo said, was on the maritime border dispute between the two countries which had been settled peacefully.

He praised the Ivorian President for his statesmanship with respect to the settlement of the maritime dispute.

Touching on the rotation of the venue of the anniversary event, Nana Akufo-Addo explained that it had helped to focus attention on a different region each year and rallied the nation together.

He added that the Eastern Region had a peculiar situation since the region was home to three members of the Big Six of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) namely: Edward Akufo-Addo, Joseph Boakye Danquah and William Ofori Atta.