‘Mandela’s death, a new chapter for African leaders’
President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the death of Nelson Mandela has ended the era of liberation struggle and opened a new chapter for African leaders to promote economic development and create jobs for young people.
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He said Mr Mandela, together with other great Africans, such as Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, and all the others fought for African liberation.
"I think that with Mandela's passing, the era of liberation struggle is literally over. And the next challenge that faces the continent is how to promote economic development, create jobs for young people and create prosperity and a decent life for our people," he told journalists yesterday in an interaction with them on his return home from South Africa, where he had attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela.
Condolences
While in South Africa, President Mahama called on President Jacob Zuma and the widow of Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel to express condolences to the government, family and people of South Africa on the passing away of Mr Mandela.
President Mahama also filed past the body of Nelson Mandela at the Union Building in Pretoria last Wednesday.
Nelson Mandela's death on Thursday, December 5, 2013, attracted hundreds of mourners from all over the world to South Africa. He will be buried at Qunu, where he grew up, on December 15 to climax his funeral celebration.
The aircraft carrying President Mahama and his entourage touched down at the Kotoka International Airport at 1:15 p.m. The President was met on arrival by Vice-President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Mathew Quashie, the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Alhassan and some ministers of state.
Mandela's legacy
President Mahama recalled that President Mandela came under intense pressure to go for a second term after his first term in office, but he declined.
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He said the legacy and the lesson that Mandela left by that decision "is that everybody comes, does his bit and leaves it to the next generation to continue".
President Mahama said in life, Mandela had the knack for bringing people together.
He said one would thought that Mandela would have come out of prison a very bitter person but he instead said South Africans should live in peace no matter what their colour or creed was.
"He worked towards creating a South Africa that was at peace with itself, with all its people living together," President Mahama stressed.
Therefore, the President said, in death it was not unusual that the world saw President Obama shake hands with Raul Castro of Cuba.
"I believe that that was sensational because everybody knows that Cuba and America, since the Cold War era, have been at loggerheads with each other,” President Mahama said, and expressed the hope that the spectacle would lead to the lifting of the blockade that had been placed on Cuba all these years.