Restore global ethics ; Rawlings urges political leadership
Former President Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has called for an urgent need on the part of political leadership globally to restore ethical and principled values.
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In his view, if President Nelson Mandela were alive today, he would have described the trend of brutal and unfair practices on the global scene as unconscionable.
In separate meetings at his residence with the Algerian Ambassador, Mr Youssef Delileche and EU Head of Delegation, Mr William Hanna, the former President went on to say that so long as Africa’s end of the economic stick remained so short, a solution to the migrant crisis and its horrible consequences would continue to elude us.
Political authority
Mr Rawlings said the level of violence, brutality and injustice that had become pervasive across the globe could be attributed to political authority losing its sacred sense of reverence.
“How worse is what Assad is doing compared to what the Palestinians recently suffered? How worse is that compared to what the Yemenis are presently suffering?” President Rawlings questioned at the meetings on Wednesday.
The former President said the savagery inflicted on fellow Africans in South Africa and elsewhere in the world would happen when people, in looking for a scapegoat for their economic circumstances, vented their anger on the vulnerable because they could not directly take it on a failing political authority.
He said though humanity was making a lot of progress, that progress could stall so long as it was pinned down by ethical practices containing radicalism.
Sacredness
“When political authority loses its sacredness the effect percolates down and this is what we end up with. When former President Mursi can be sentenced by a regime that evolved out of what Mubarak left behind and the world is quiet about this unconscionable action, it shouldn’t surprise us that we are having difficulties in containing violent radicalism”.
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On the unfortunate xenophobic violence in South Africa, President Rawlings said other nationals had been compelled to seek work in South Africa because of unfair trade practices of some big South African companies. He said South African Airways, for instance, not too long ago pushed Air Namibia out of Ghana by drastically reducing their fares only for them to shoot up when Air Namibia folded up. He highlighted how the trend was pervasive among South African firms that employed unfair business practices to gain monopoly in other African countries. Those practices naturally created unemployment situations in those countries.
Arab spring
The former President commended Algeria for maintaining a progressive-minded political inclination. “The fact that your country survived the Arab Spring comes as no surprise to me. This is something to be proud of. ”
Ambassador Youssef Delileche of Algeria, in his remarks, indicated that his country was keen on seeing to the resolution of the several conflicts on the continent, particularly those in Mali, Libya and Western Sahara. He said Algeria was of the firm belief that the AU should take the lead in resolving those conflicts primarily through dialogue.
Extremism
A former Foreign Minister, Ambassador Victor Gbeho, who was present at both meetings, remembered the contributions Algeria made to the success of the new independent Ghana and over the years towards consolidating the independence of the continent.
On the role of the European Union, Ambassador Gbeho called on the EU Head of Delegation, William Hanna, to consult broadly on the evolvement of a new world order. He noted that President Rawlings was very sensitive to developments at the international level and encouraged him to sustain discussions on developments between the EU and Ghana and the rest of the continent, especially on post-2015 development challenges and the Economic Partnership Agreement.