President
Kufuor’s gives emotional farewell message to Parliament
Accra, Jan. 05, Ghanadot/GNA – President John Agyekum Kufuor
on Monday bade farewell to the Fourth Parliament of the
Fourth Republic with an emotional address focusing on the
State of the Nation.
He recounted: “As I leave office after eight years …… you
must know that I have served in Parliament twice, first in
the Second Republic on the government side, again in the
Third Republic on the other side.
“I have had the privilege of serving in government as a
Junior Minister. I have suffered political detention twice,
because of military coup detats. I have come through the ups
and downs of the changing fortunes of politics over the past
40 years and thank God, I am now ending my active political
life at the pinnacle of the greasy pole of politics as
President of the Republic.”
In a touching tone, President Kufuor said; “I had hoped that
after my tenure I will be succeeded by a candidate from my
own political tradition. But as things have turned out, the
Electoral Commissioner has declared that the electorate of
Ghana has decided otherwise.
“As a democrat, I acknowledge this declaration. I,
therefore, congratulate once more the President-Elect,
Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the main opposition
National Democratic Congress (NDC) on his election.
“It is hoped that he will bring the wealth of experience
garnered while in government and subsequently out of it to
forge a sense of unity within the body politic, which is a
sine qua non for nation building.”
The Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic came into being
on January 7 2005 for a four-year journey of law making and
policy appraisal of the country.
The President also congratulated his party’s Presidential
Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who lost the election
narrowly, saying through the election, Nana Akufo-Addo has
acquitted himself with valour and the greatest sense of
dignity.
“Nana Akufo-Addo more than anyone else should know that our
Danquah-Busia Tradition has been fashioned and tempered with
perseverance, resilience and resolve to stay the course of
never giving up,” the President stated.
Amidst occasional outburst of laughter from members of the
House, President Kufuor acknowledged the contribution of
other Presidential candidates and challenged them to
continue to contribute to the enrichment of the political
discourse by offering alternative views for the development
of the country.
He reminded politicians that the formation of political
parties was not only for elections purposes but also for
veritable nurturing grounds for leadership development in
the interest of society.
“Political parties bridge many divides within the nation
including ethnic; religious; ideological and gender,” he
stated.
Focusing on the act of governance, President Kufuor admitted
that in the current information age, incumbency was proving
to be extremely challenging in a vibrant democracy.
He said “it demands being on the alert 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. Every action of government is put under
constant scrutiny for questioning while a spin is put on
almost every policy decision.
“This attitude tends to ignore the need for gestation
periods for programmes, and thereby promotes a negative
culture of instant gratification and unrealistic
expectations, which is often exploited for undue political
gain.”
President Kufuor said if politicians across the board
continued to criticize programmes and policies of incumbent
governments just to score political points, they might in
the long run breed cynicism, undermine the whole political
system and weaken democracy to everybody’s disadvantage.
He charged the next Parliament to lead the effort to curb
the negative tendency of political cynicism “so that it does
not become endemic”.
GNA