Free, fair, transparent elections as tribute to Nkrumah - Retired Diplomat

Accra, Nov. 29, Ghanadot/GNA- Dr. Ebenezer Moses Debrah, a retired Diplomat, has called on the nation to make next week’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections free, fair and transparent as fitting tribute to the nation’s founder, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

In a lecture in Accra, Dr. Debrah said respect for the election rules were necessary for both winners and losers to commit themselves to cooperating fully so that Ghanaians, together as a people would reaffirm the peace, prosperity and unity bequeathed to the nation by its founders.

The Lecture, dubbed: Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture, climaxed a series of annual lectures to celebrate this year‘s Founder’s Week celebrations of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS).

The Academy, founded November 1959 by government instrument of incorporation has the objective to bring together the highest level of intellectuals, experts and professionals in the country to constitute a ‘Think Tank' in the arts and sciences to enable it advise the Government of Ghana and other relevant bodies on issues of importance to national development.

This year’s series of lectures focused on the challenges of oil discovery in Ghana, but Dr Debrah’s lecture, examined the foreign policy of Nkrumah, and extolled the nation’s founder as a unifier, not only of Ghanaians but also Africa as whole which culminated in the formation of the continental body, the African Union.

Dr. Debrah, who earlier announced that old age had caught with him listened on as his lecture was delivered for him by Ambassador Jimmy Aggrey-Orleans, Former Ghana’s High Commissioner in London.

Dr Debrah said there were people who naturally might have felt hurt by, or disagreed with aspects of Nkrumah’s policies, but added that the monumental legacy Nkrumah left for Ghana makes it appropriate to call for a national reconciliation where applicable, regarding the regime of Nkrumah and to plead for forgiveness from those who felt hurt.

The Lecturer, who once was the Head of Ghana Civil Service and Former Secretary the Cabinet, went down memory lane and reminisced the salient incidents and other initiatives taken by Nkrumah to prosecute his line of foreign policy, the legacy and lessons for Ghanaians.

He identified Nkrumah as an adroit political leader and national reformer, fearless fighter in the face of daunting challenges to his proclaimed objective of decolonization of Africa, an impassioned advocate for the political unity of Africa and a flag-bearer for Africa on the international scene.

“He infused these attributes… into the range of actions and attitude he took in his relations with other states bilaterally or multilaterally in order to achieve Ghana’s national interest,” Dr Debrah said.

Dr. Debrah recalled the activities Nkrumah undertook, and the various conferences that finally led to the predecessor of the African Union, the Organisation of African Unity, the decolonization process of Africa and the attainment of independence of a number of African countries.

”Africa was as at 1960, making progress in the decolonization process 1960 was described as the year of Africa. Some eighteen states gained their independence and several also did in subsequent years,” he said.

Dr Debrah said part of the legacy that Ghana had enjoyed from Nkrumah’s historical resonance was the high international profile which its political personalities, top officials had promoted over time since independence.

He added that the high profile and image of Ghana had made it a conference destination, with the last 18 months having seen the convening in Ghana of a large number of international conferences.

The lecture, which ended with a standing ovation as the audience and the Speaker recited the national pledge, the epilogue of the lecture, called on Ghana and Africa to hold high the African unity agenda espoused initially by Kwame Nkrumah.

Dr. Leticia Obeng, President of the Academy, who chaired the lecture, said the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America, was in part due to the African personality agenda which Nkrumah espoused 50 years ago.

GNA