opponents

Accra, March 6, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Saturday reiterated the Government's resolve to ensure a level playing field for this year's general election and pledged to extend honour and dignity to all political opponents.

However, he said they were also expected to reciprocate the gesture. President Kufuor made the pledge when addressing the 47th Independence Anniversary Parade formed by the Security Services and School Children at the Independence Square in Accra.

The parade was made up of 900 officers and men from the Ghana Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Service, Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Custom, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Immigration Service and 900 school children from public and private schools within the Accra Metropolis.

A Special Guest of Honour at the parade was a Seven-member delegation from the Togolese Armed Forces, led by Brigadier-General Nanja Zakari, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Togolese Armed Forces. The theme for the anniversary celebrations is: "Discipline, Tolerance and Honesty-Essential Qualities for Deepening Democracy in Ghana."

President Kufuor said Ghana had a good opportunity through the elections to demonstrate to herself and the world that not only was she the first to have gained independence in Sub-Saharan Africa but that she was also the pace-setter in good governance on the Continent as well.

"At 47, let Ghanaians show the world that we are matured and can conduct our affairs in an orderly manner. In a Sub-Region that still evokes images of instability and chaos, we owe it to ourselves; to our neighbours, to the African Continent and indeed to the Black Race as a whole, to prove that our democracy has taken roots and is working", he said.

"The best proof will be in our successfully holding of free and fair elections, this year", he said.

President Kufuor asked Ghanaians to pause awhile during the celebrations of the Independence anniversary and nationhood to rededicate themselves to work for the success of the country. He said if Ghana were to make a success of her democracy, then Ghanaians had no choice but to be disciplined, tolerant and honest with each other and the nation.

"It also means being true and not morbidly sentimental about our past. We must be level-headed about the present and also clear sighted about the future we aspire", President Kufuor said.

President Kufuor asked Ghanaians to pledge themselves anew to the Motherland, never again to betray her nor her Constitution because Ghana had chosen the path of democracy, adding" we must sustain it and through it establish accountable, responsible and efficient governance".

He said that was the only way to restore hope to the nation and also redeem its image and, therefore, urged Ghanaians to rededicate themselves to the unalloyed service of the Motherland.

Tracing Ghana's political history, President Kufuor said Ghana after beginning with democracy, experimented with one party system and in succession went through the so-called liberation, redemption and revolutionary governments that were characterized by indiscipline, intolerance and dishonesty, The nation had come full circle to where it began from at independence.

He said 11 years ago, Ghanaians finally decided that given the choice, constitutional democracy was their preferred route of governance and development and, therefore, appealed to Ghanaians to cultivate the qualities of discipline, tolerance and honesty in order to deepen the democracy.

President Kufuor said what made constitutional democracy such as the one being practiced in Ghana attractive was that it prescribed an orderly way of life, calculated to enhance and dignify each and every individual within the society.

He said the laws that govern the people were not subjected to the whims and caprices of those in government nor indeed anybody else and everybody was subjected to the discipline of the national Constitution but obviously, it had not been easy for some few individuals and groups to adjust to this principle of the rule of law.

President Kufuor said Ghana's history was a relatively happy one where the various people had co-existed and interacted productively, therefore, it was time to see every Ghanaian in terms of the individual's worth, rather than his ethnic, religious or other partisan interests.

He said the different political parties must be seen as the vehicles for bringing more ideas to the national discourse to enable the people to make informed choices from time to time and not as instruments for division.

President Kufuor said no individual or group of people had a monopoly on patriotism and once the majority of the people vote in a free and fair election to entrust the governance of the country to a particular political party or set of people, it behoves everybody to give their support to the Government during its term of office as determined by the national Constitution.

To the contingents on parade, President Kufuor commended them for their discipline and dedication that made them put up such a splendid performance.

Turning to teachers, he said; "Government is determined not to show its appreciation merely by words but by progressively working to improve the welfare of teachers".

President Kufuor asked the children not to jeopardize their future by taking chances with their lives but rather lead clean and disciplined lives to make themselves worthy inheritors of the nation.