President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged senior citizens in the country to speak out and join his government’s fight against the ills of society.

According to a press release from the Flagstaff House, the president made the statement when he was speaking at a lunch held for senior citizens at the Banquet Hall of the State House on 1st July 2017 to commemorate 57 years since Ghana became a Republic.

The President entreated the senior citizens not to fall into the well-known temptation of telling him what they think he wants to hear.

“It would be equally tempting to tell me that I am the best thing that ever happened to Ghana, and it would be even more tempting to tell me to ignore my critics. I expect that, as senior citizens, you will not walk this road, but will allow the moral authority of your status to justify your interventions,” he said.

Find the full statement from the Flagstaff House below:

2nd July, 2017


For Immediate Release


“SPEAK OUT AGAINST ILLS OF SOCIETY” – PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO TO SENIOR CITIZENS

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged the country’s ‘senior citizens’ to speak out and join his government’s fight against the ills of our society.

These ills, according to President Akufo-Addo include “corruption, social and economic injustice, crime, the illegal mining menace, popularly referred to as galamsey, and the new phenomenon of vigilantism.”

Whilst admitting that “we should not demand any more work from you in the twilight of your years”, President Akufo-Addo appealed to senior citizens to speak out against these ills “in service to God and country.”

Additionally, President Akufo-Addo urged the senior citizens not to fall into the well-known temptation of telling him what they think he wants to hear.

“It would be equally tempting to tell me that I am the best thing that ever happened to Ghana, and it would be even more tempting to tell me to ignore my critics. I expect that, as senior citizens, you will not walk this road, but will allow the moral authority of your status to justify your interventions,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Saturday, 1st July, 2017, at a lunch held for senior citizens at the Banquet Hall of the State House, to commemorate 57 years since Ghana became a Republic.

He urged the gathering and Ghanaians to believe in the country’s capacity to build a modern, developed, progressive nation, free from a mindset of dependence, aid and charity.

“We can build a new Ghanaian civilization, where there is fair opportunity for all; where there is wide access to an educational system that embraces science and technology, particularly the digital revolution; where healthcare is a function of need, not means; where hard work, enterprise and creativity are rewarded; where there is an abundance of decent, good paying jobs, especially for our youth; where there is dignified retirement for the elderly; and where there is a social safety net for the vulnerable and disadvantaged,” he said.

The founders of Ghana, he stressed, chose the Black Star as part of our national colours for a purpose.

“They envisaged us as a shining example to the black peoples of the world of what a free, dedicated, enterprising, Ghanaian people can do to build a society the equal of any, anywhere on the face of the planet. Let us be up and doing. Our destiny beckons,” President Akufo-Addo concluded.