…John Mahama
Former President John Mahama has said that even though the icon of the June 4th Revolution, former President Jerry John Rawlings has passed on, the relevance of the revolution remains incontestable.
In a statement marking this year’s edition of the June 4th uprising, he points out that this is so because the values of the revolution remain relevant especially at a time that the monsters that the revolution sought to exorcise have returned with full menace.
“The values June 4 espoused some four decades ago, remain as relevant today as ever before in our nation’s democratic journey. June 4 engendered hope in our people that the ills of our society would be rooted out and replaced with values of virtue and honesty.
“If we must get our people to hope again and to trust in our institutions and government, then we must encourage “fearless honesty” as enjoined by our national anthem.
“We must embrace and be guided by truth, transparency, probity and accountability – principles that have been bequeathed unto us, which are the bedrock upon which our nation, undoubtedly, will become great, strong, resilient and prosperous.
“We must encourage freedom of thought and expression rather than a culture of hypocrisy and silence,” he wrote.
His words come at a time that the Akufo-Addo government has been accused of reintroducing the culture of silence, with the latest headline event being the reporting of former Deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, to the General Legal Council, for criticizing the Supreme Court’s handling of the 2020 election petition.
Former President Mahama also called for consensus building in his speech highlighting that important national programs such as Free SHS need a national conversation around them in order to forge a consensus that will rally all energies behind them.
“Ghana is a country with exceptional human talent. Time is ticking fast and yet we can make things right if we work as one nation with a common destiny. As I have said in the past, broad consultations and consensus-building does not take anything away from a leader.
“Broad consultations that bring the best and brightest together with stakeholders can forge a consensus around issues such as economic recovery strategy, or implementation challenges of Free SHS in the national interest.”
The relevance of the ideals of the revolution, he wrote is also reflected in the fact that there is still corruption and other nation-wrecking vices on a national scale.
“The June 4 Uprising was an epochal event that represents a major landmark in our nation’s existence. Together with its sister event, the 31st December Revolution, the two shaped the course of Ghana’s history resulting in a turnaround in Ghana’s economic fortunes and the advent of the 4th Republic,” Mahama said.
“Forty-two years on, our economy and democracy are in dire straits. Economic hardship, insecurity, political and ethnic polarization, deepening inequality, politicization of our democratic institutions, corruption, serious problems in the education and health sectors are challenges Ghanaians are confronted with in our daily lives.”