* It demonstrates spirit of peace - Prez
* No, it is positive defiance - Ex-Prez

THE PROPER INTERPRETATION of the nation?s swan-song, the National Anthem, has sent the heads of both sitting President J A Kufuor and his predecessor, former President Rawlings, wagging for answers.

Whilst the ex-President sees the part that reads, ?Make us cherish fearless honesty? as a call for positive defiance, President Kufuor says the whole national anthem demonstrates a spirit of peace and orderly development.

Speaking at the Independence Day celebration at the Black Star Square in Accra yesterday, the President said the words of our national anthem, properly understood, clearly demonstrates the sustenance of the nation?s growing democracy for peace and development.

?I dare say that if each Ghanaian begins to appreciates his or her unique role within the body politic in this way, then the nation will be living within the letter of our national Anthem?, Kufuor noted.

?Democracy can be sustained to promote peace and unity when all individuals, groups and organisations within the body politic subsume their sectional and parochial interest under the overall national good?.

He said it is also necessary that all stakeholders within the polity operate within the law even as they pursue the rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the National Anthem as well as the Constitution.

But contrary to this assertion, the former President at the ?Wahala? demonstration organized by the Committee of Joint Action (CJA) last Tuesday said that the positive defiance that he has always advocated has not been left out from the National Anthem.

He stressed that the Anthem, which starts with ?God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong? is a prayer, and that he prays for President Kufuor everyday.

Speaking on the theme: ?Sustaining Democracy in Ghana: The Bedrock For Peace And National Unity? yesterday, President Kufuor also emphasized that democracy could only be sustained to become the bedrock of the peace and unity when there is effective collaboration between the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature.

?People are more likely to embrace the democratic process and help it thrive, when rule of law is guaranteed and when all Ghanaians appreciates as true the constitutional provision of equality of opportunity irrespective of gender, religion, politics or ethnicity?, he noted.

According to him having laid a firm foundation for the economy, he said government is now focusing on policies that would guarantee accelerated growth of the country?s economy.

He acknowledged the shock as well as what he called the temporal disorganisation of the national economy as a result of the recent deregulation of the petroleum sector, saying although painful the decision is a necessary evil.

?Government is convinced that deregulation will put the economy onto a sound footing, and set the nation on the path of accelerated growth and stronger democracy?, President Kufuor asserted.

He charged Parliament to build consensus in their deliberations in the House to avoid the partisan posturing which sometimes detracts the noble objectives of the legislature, stressing that Parliament should be seen as the House of the people.

The contingent on parade were drawn from the 48 Engineer Regiment, 5 Battalion of Infantry and the Support Services Brigade, including the Navy, Airforce, Police Prisons, Immigration, CEPS, GNFS and a host of first and second cycle schools.