Critical Appreciation Of President Mahama’s Speech At The 68th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly

In subjecting this recent address to proper scrutiny and analysis for the general good of the Ghanaian populace, particularly young people, TYDE GHANA has observed that President Mahama laid emphasis on socioeconomic and democratic dispensation in Africa, diplomacy, counter-terrorism strategies, paradigm shift to north-south engagement and youth unemployment. Below are few remarks:

This is the first time an African leader has been bold to draw the UNGA’s attention to the specificity of democracy. President Mahama stressed that ‘‘Democracy is not a one-fits-all-size venture. Nor is it a one-time event. It’s a system that takes decades to build ...’’ It gives credence to a school of thought that the West’s idea of democracy might not be well suited for Africa, owing to the continent’s unique culture, traditions and history. TYDE, however, believes that President Mahama could have added a word of caution to the West to stop meddling in the affairs of African elections.

President Mahama was eloquent in his calls for partnership rather than sympathy. This will cement a win-win scenario in all economic agreements. However, TYDE thinks the G8’s Lough Erne Declaration which seeks to champion fair taxes, increased transparency and open trade as vital drivers of private enterprise growth, poverty reduction, job creation and prosperity for people around the world is a vapour. There are still unresolved issues surrounding even the Economic Partnership Agreement for Africa. The West has been paying lip-service to Africa for long.

It appears that listeners in Ghana have misconstrued the announcement of the Youth Jobs and Enterprise Development Fund as a replacement for GYEEDA. The President’s recognition of the global phenomenon of youth unemployment and Ghana’s resolve-style to mitigate it was contained in his address to the UNGA. It could be recalled that this Fund was a 2012 campaign promise to provide young people with entrepreneurial skills and access to the funds needed to establish businesses or expand existing ones, thereby creating new employment opportunities. Africa has a fast growing population, more than 50 percent of which is below the age of 35.

Even though he spoke with a heavy heart, the killing of Prof Kofi Awoonor being recent, he heavily denounced the outrageous degeneracy of innocent lives through terrorist attacks everywhere on the globe. He was emphatic that the global quest for counter-terrorism strategies must be coherent, consistent and concentrated.

TYDE GHANA has examined the various addresses by heads of states and other proceedings of the 68th General Assembly. We believe that President Mahama’s address was one of the most excellent and insightful, and that the thrust of his speech will become a mainstay for policy observers across the globe.

NANA APPIAH TYDE GHANA Communications Team TYDE GHANA is an organization of young professionals who believe in Social Democratic principles and are grooming young people for strong leadership in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa and the world. The network includes young people in banking, trade, journalism, real estate, medicine, science, law, economic development, engineering, public service, entrepreneurship, ICT, academia, sports and CSO.