Kudos to our predecessors- President Mahama

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong

President John Mahama has attributed the progress of Ghana since independence to all the people who have led this country and the generality of Ghanaians for where Ghana has gotten to.

‘This country is moving forward and if we are able to count blessings and the successes we have then we can build further on those successes,’ said President Mahama.

According to him the Germans have built their country because they have a strong believe that after the world war and everything were destroyed they could rebuilt their country and made it what they could be pride of.

‘If we Ghanaians could have kind of enthusiasm and the zeal the Germans have and believe in our country and stop petty ethnic and partisan division am sure that our country will move further. And I have said that every Ghanaian President has done his share,’ he added.

President Mahama said this when he interacted with Ghanaian diaspora in Germany. This took place when the German government invited President Mahama for a visit.

After meeting the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German dignitaries President Mahama decided to have discussion with Ghanaians in Germany and briefed them on what was going on in Ghana.

‘Indeed the job President Nkrumah faced was very difficult because that was independence and he had to start the whole ball rolling. President Busia came and continued. Event those who came during military era contributed something toward the development of this country of ours,’ he stated, adding that however bad a government is it contributes to moving the nation forward and other people takeover and continue also.

He told the gathering that from 1992 when Ghana went into Fourth Republic President Rawlings began and set the ball rolling. ‘If we take 1992 as our landmark stage President Rawlings moved the country to a certain stage and handed over to President Kuffuor. President Kuffuor continued from where President Rawlings left off. He also moved the country to another stage and after that late Professor Evans Atta Mills also moved the country to another level and I also came too continued,’ he added.

‘We are doing our best to move the country to a next stage and somebody us will take over and continue to move the country forward,’ he alluded.

‘Any time you are in control and leading all responsibilities for everything that happens is yours. The blame game will not take us anywhere and that is why I avoid blaming anything on the past or any leader. That leader existed in his time,’ he reiterated.

President Mahama said society continues to improve and gives you the tools on which you can move faster. He noted that he is able to move this country faster because of what the past Presidents handed over to him. And by the time another President comes he will be able to move the country faster because the ball has started rolling already.

He informed the Ghanaians in Germany that Presidents and other high level delegations meet those in diaspora in order to address them what is going on in Ghana. Even though those in diaspora maybe aware of what is going on back home more than him, he said there are good information and misinformation about Ghana.

‘Not everything you read on the internet is the true picture about Ghana. It might form some perception about what government is doing with regard to policy that is miscommunicated in a way that makes you think that the government is wicked and it’s punishing the country and that is absolutely false,’ he emphasized.

‘Everybody who is in politic wants to gain credit for having moved the country to a certain distance. Why would I undertake policies that will hurt my own country when I have to go back after four years and ask a new mandate from my people? But it is how it’s communicated that makes it bad to some of we Ghanaians abroad,’ he told Ghanaians in Germany.

‘All of us want the best for our country but we differ in how we think we can achieve that best. But it is only interaction and discussions that we can find common ground to move our country forward,’ he appealed.

He touched on the discussion with the IMF and how it will help us stabilize the economy, challenges facing the economy and other important issues concerning the country.

He thanked the Ghanaians resident and all the Ghanaian traditional rulers in Germany for the enthusiastic welcome they gave him and his team to the Germany.

He said his visit to was a state invitation by the German government is honour to all Ghanaians as a result of recognising the progress Ghana is making.

He said the relationship between the two countries has been close for many years. The bilateral relations between Ghana and Germany started in 1961 and cumulatively Germany in a bilateral cooperation has injected as much as 1.37 billion euro into Ghana’s economy through various projects that have taken place in the country.

The visit has been very successful and I think it has moved the relations between the Ghana and Germany to a whole new level.