Ghana, 2013

It is with a heavy heart that

I address the Assembly today. Just before I left Ghana

to attend this general debate, I learned of the terrorist

attack that took place in Nairobi. I was shocked and

deeply saddened to hear of the many lives that were lost

to those senseless and cowardly acts of violence. As the

death toll increased, so too did my grief, knowing that

each additional number symbolized one more human

life. Those numbers symbolized individuals who

may have been strangers to those of us here but were

of prime significance in the lives of the people who

loved them — their parents, children, husbands, wives,

friends and colleagues.

Soon enough, I got word that one of the people

massacred was a person of significance in my life

and in the lives of so many other Ghanaians. Kofi

Awoonor was a 78-year-old gentleman who had served

his country loyally as a poet and professor, ambassador

to Brazil and Cuba, and Chairman of our Council of

State, a presidential advisory body. Professor Awoonor

had once even been our country’s envoy to the United

Nations. On this fateful day, however, Professor

Awoonor was in Nairobi to perform his poetry at a

writers’ conference. He had travelled there with his

son, and they had decided before the day’s scheduled

events to do what should have been one of the most

ordinary and uneventful of activities — to make a stop

at a shopping mall.

Unfortunately, what happened that day at the

Westgate Premier Shopping Mall was anything but

ordinary. Professor Awoonor’s life was taken from

him and those who loved him, just as the lives of

dozens of others were taken away from them and their

communities. Each of them had a unique story and

accomplishments or aspirations for which they will

be remembered. Professor Awoonor’s son, though

injured, was among the many who were lucky enough

to escape the attack. It is a day they will never forget.

They will carry the scars, physical and emotional, with

them. We who watched from a distance should never

allow ourselves to forget, because we have also been

irrevocably marked by this tragedy.

When independence was upon us and our

possibilities felt endless, the world saw how brightly

Africa could shine. Then, for decades, that light was

dimmed. There was a time when killing seemed almost

commonplace in Africa. Indeed, there are plenty of

graves that remain unmarked. There was a time when

the ruthlessness of dictators seemed to be the order of the

day. For decades, the corruption, greed and depravity of

a few caused the suffering of an entire continent. We so

easily could have succumbed to the wars, the poverty

and the diseases, but we did not. We staggered our way

through, year after year, and eventually we made it. We

have survived.

Last year when I addressed the General Assembly

(see A/67/PV.9), I began with the assurance that I had

come with good news from Ghana, with stories of

success from the African continent. This year, it gives

me great pleasure to do the same — even on the heels

of the dastardly terrorist attack — because I know

that today’s Africa will not be divided or deterred by

the heinous crimes of those who wish to disrupt our

progress. I know that our borders will no longer be

used to undermine the brotherhood and sisterhood of

our citizens.

The days of massacres must remain in our past.

Our rivers will no longer run red. Our children must be

students now; we will no longer allow their childhoods

to be stolen from them by those who wish to turn them

into soldiers. Africa is standing tall, walking confidently

towards political stability, walking confidently towards

economic prosperity, walking proudly towards ethnic

and religious harmony and coexistence. There is no

place in today’s Africa for hatred and intolerance and

the murder of innocent people — not anymore, not ever

again. So we will mourn our dead. We will console

ourselves and each other through our grief. We cannot

allow terror to defeat us. That must strengthen our

resolve. Our stride will not be broken.

Last year from this stage, I also declared Ghana’s

resolve to be a beacon of peace and democracy in the

West African subregion. On behalf of the citizens whom

I serve, I promised the world that Ghana would not

allow its territory to be used in any manner whatsoever

to destabilize other nations. Ghana has been steadfast

in its cooperation with its regional neighbours to

maintain the security of those nations that are enjoying

stability and to restore security to those, such as

Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, that have recently emerged

from turmoil. Currently, Côte d’Ivoire is in a stage of

rebuilding. The recent overtures towards reconciliation

made by President Ouattara are a major step towards

bridging the country’s political divide. After its own

bout with terror, Mali made a solid return to democracy

by conducting an election that all observers, even the

sceptics and the cynics, hailed as being free, fair and

peaceful.

West Africa has seen enough war and strife. We

want peace and security to persist in our subregion.

Ghana will continue to play its role in strengthening the

Economic Community of West African States to make

sure that it is able to meet that objective.

With all that I have said in my statement today, I

am sure it will not come as a surprise to anyone that

Ghana enthusiastically threw its support behind the

Arms Trade Treaty adopted by the General Assembly

at the sixty-seventh session. International trade in

conventional arms and ammunition must be regulated.

We like to mention how the world has become a global

village, especially when speaking of technology, culture

and travel. The ease of communication in that global

village also exists for warmongers and terrorist groups,

who are using it to recruit new members, expand their

cells, create intercontinental networks, obtain weapons

and conceal their identities and locations. If we are to

fight back, we must also work cooperatively. Nations in

the developed world must align themselves with nations

in the developing world. We must form partnerships

and work together. Ghana is prepared to do that. We

have signed the Arms Trade Treaty and we intend to do

everything possible to see that it is ratified in a timely

manner.

Fledgling democracies tend to be fragile. Their

limits are still being tested; their characteristics are

still being defined. Democracy is not a one-size-fits-all

venture, nor is it a one-time event. It is a system that

takes decades to build, a process that pushes a country

towards a perfection it will never reach, but countries

must try nonetheless. This past year, the limits of

Ghana’s democracy were tested, and I am proud to

report that we passed with flying colours.

The results of our recent elections were contested.

Since our return to constitutional rule, Ghana has

conducted six successful elections. Last year’s elections

were the first whose results were formally challenged

and heard by the Supreme Court. What made that

situation noteworthy was the reliance of all parties

involved on the rule of law. The proceedings were

televised for the sake of transparency. The verdicts were

readily accepted, and there was not a single reported

incident of violence.

Ghana’s victory is not an aberration. Other

countries, like Kenya, have had similar experiences.

That indicates that democratic institutions in Africa are

growing stronger. It indicates that the balance of power

in African countries is shifting from the authority of a

sole individual to the more equitable process of properly

designed systems. Strong institutions are the hallmark

of every nation’s stability. They are crucial tools in the

fight for human rights.

It is our intention to bring an end to youth

unemployment. In Ghana today, we are about to launch

the Youth Jobs and Enterprise Development Fund,

a programme that will provide young people with

entrepreneurial skills and access to the funds needed

to establish businesses of their own or expand existing

ones, thereby creating new employment opportunities

for themselves.

Six of the ten fastest growing economies in the

world today are on the African continent. However,

that growth has not yet been translated into sustainable

employment opportunities. Over the course of the past

decade, African economies created over 37 million

wage-paying jobs, yet 63 per cent of workers remain

trapped in low-paying subsistence or self-employment

endeavours. With those realities come the very real

possibilities of income instability, exclusion from

the benefits of economic growth and social security

benefits tied to formal sector employment.

Africa has a fast-growing population, more than

50 per cent of which is below the age of 35. That means

we must create more jobs for our growing numbers of

youth. They must have opportunities available to them.

We cannot do that unless we transform the economies

of Africa. It all comes down to value. We must value

our resources, including our human resource — we

must value our people.

We cannot continue to be exporters of raw materials

and primary produce. We need to add value to our

exports. We cannot continue to export raw cocoa beans

in Ghana; what we need to do instead is process more

of those beans into value-added products. We cannot

continue to export unrefined gold; we need to add value

to our gold exports. We cannot continue to export oil

and gas; we need to integrate that industry into our

economy; we need to process petroleum products and

produce power with the gas. We cannot continue to

export bauxite and then in return import alumina to

feed our local aluminium smelter; we need to work

towards creating an integrated bauxite and aluminium

industry in Ghana.

In that way, by keeping the concept of value at the

forefront of our economy, we can create new jobs for

our young people. We can do that with local and foreign

investors who share our vision. Often the rest of the

world wrongly assumes that we in Africa do not know

our worth. But we do. It is not sympathy we want; it is

partnership — and the ability to stand on our own feet.

It is not handouts we are in search of; it is opportunities.

We have already shown that with time and the right

opportunity, Africa can make it.

Ghana achieved the Millennium Development Goal

(MDG) targets for reducing poverty and hunger far

ahead of the scheduled date of 2015. We are on track for

achieving MDGs 2, 3, and 6 as well. School enrolment,

gender parity and the reduction of HIV/AIDS have

all seen dramatic progress and statistical shifts as a

result of the work to reach our targets. While we are

lagging behind in MDGs 4, 5, and 7 — infant mortality,

maternal health and environmental sustainability — the

figures show that there has been a vast improvement.

Since 2000, the number of maternal deaths for every

100,000 births has decreased by more than half, from

740 to 320. We recognize that when we are talking

about human lives, even a 50 per cent decrease is too

little; it is not enough. That is why in 2010 we launched

the MDG Accelerated Framework and Country Action

Plan.

Women account for more than 50 per cent of

Ghana’s population. We believe that empowering them

through education and encouraging them to take full

control of their reproductive rights will help us not only

to attain the MDGs faster, but also to build a better

nation. It is not enough to put girls in school and allow

them just enough education to be deemed literate; we

must keep them in school. Removing teenaged girls

from school for any reason, let alone to marry them off,

is an unacceptable practice that must end.

African women have always been the backbone

of our societies. Let us imagine the change they could

effect in our countries if we would only help them to

reach their full potential. As a President and a father, I

owe it to my children — my sons and my daughter — and

all the children of Ghana to create a country where

they may walk with their dignity intact and heads held

high, standing shoulder to shoulder with the children of

Europe, South America, Asia, North America and the

rest of the world.

Ghana is encouraged by the new initiative to resolve

the Israeli-Palestinian issue. We are still firm in our

belief that an independent Palestinian State, existing

side by side with a peaceful and secure Israeli State,

is a desirable outcome that we must all support and

work towards. In working towards that goal, we must

realize that the continuous construction of settlements

in Palestinian territory increasingly shuts the door on a

two-State solution.

Ghana calls once again for the embargo against

Cuba to be lifted. It is a relic of the Cold War era and

has no place in our current global dispensation.

We have come a long way since the end of the last

global war, yet the makeup of the Security Council

does not reflect those developments. Ghana therefore

supports the reform of the Security Council.

Ghana will continue to pursue the principle of

constructive engagement in our relations with the

other countries in the world. We are fully committed

to promoting honest global partnership that is informed

by mutual respect and reciprocity.

In closing, I would like once again to pay my

respects to those who have lost their lives in Kenya,

Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria,

Mali, Somalia, Turkey, India, the United States and all

the other places where terrorists have attacked just this

year alone. The reason we are all gathered here today is

to find the ways and the means to create a better, more

peaceful and prosperous world.