Arguably, the Annual United Nations General Assembly meeting is the largest gathering of World leaders. Some 193 member States comprising the United Nations as well as a few non member States such as the Vatican and Palestine, do participate religiously at this annual ritual. This year, two rather unstable member countries, Togo and Kenya have recused themselves from the assembly, bringing the number of participating member countries to 191.
Ghana under the 4th Republican constitution which was promulgated in 1992 and came into force in 1993 has participated at every General Assembly gathering at the organization’s headquarters located in the heart of Manhattan, New York City, in the United States of America. Former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, the late John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama have all had their take before the august body – UN General Assembly.
Obviously, other Ghanaian Presidents from when we obtained independence in 1957 from British colonial rule have also had their turn before the Assembly.
Ghana at this year’s 72nd General Assembly will present a new face and a name without a John in it – Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 5th President under Ghana’s Fourth Republican Constitution. He was elected on the 7th of December 2016 and took the oath of office on the 7th of January 2017.
The United Nations
Let’s take a brief look at what the United Nations (UN) stands for. The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the UN are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. Due to the powers vested in its Charter and its unique international character, the United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, such as peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health emergencies, gender equality, governance, food production, and more.
The UN also provides a forum for its members to express their views in the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and other bodies and committees. By enabling dialogue between its members, and by hosting negotiations, the Organization has become a mechanism for governments to find areas of agreement and solve problems together.
The Ghanaian President
It is important to establish that even though this is President Akufo-Addo’s debut speech to the General Assembly, it is not his first stint with the UN as a World body. It will be recalled that the President served as Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister for six years during the eight-year period of the Kufuor Presidency. As Foreign Minister, he actively engaged with the UN and its other associated institutions. During that same period he served as Foreign Minister, Ghana was elected by her peers to take the non-permanent West African seat on the UN Security Council for 2006-07. In August 2006, Akufo-Addo chaired the meeting of the Security Council which took the decision that halted Israel’s massive incursions into Lebanon. Again, Ghana was elected to the new UN body, the Human Rights Council, with the highest number of votes – 183 out of 191 – of any country, and as a pioneer member of another UN body, the Peace Building Commission.
Expectations of the President’s first address to the UN General Assembly
Since assuming office as President of the Republic, Akufo-Addo has articulated various policies on Ghana, West Africa, and Africa as a continent. In Ghana, the President has talked about building the most business friendly economy, achieving all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Parliamentary supervision of Public Funds, Fighting corruption with all of the State machinery through the office of Special Prosecutor, industrialization of the country, accessible education for all, eradicating youth unemployment, building a strong energy sector, and ultimately building a country beyond aid.
In West Africa (ECOWAS), the President has visited all member States of the sub region since assuming office. The message he has carried to his colleague Heads of State comprise trade liberalization in the sub region, strengthening of bi-lateral ties between member States, sharing of experience in successful sectors in member States, etc. his message to the rest of Africa has largely been similar to that of West Africa. However, he has also called for an African continent that is no longer Aid dependent.
The President has also suggested to some African leaders proposed reforms on the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council. He has expressed strong views on the fact that the composition of the Security Council is designed to disfavour Africa as a continent. He has maintained in most of his international speaking engagements that the UN Security Council is unfriendly to the African continent in its composition and that ought to change.
From the discussion above, I can project that during his first address to the assembly, Akufo-Addo is expected to take his Ghana beyond Aid as well as Africa beyond Aid message to the UN. He is also likely to underscore the many projects he has introduced in Ghana namely, the free SHS, Tax cuts, industrialization drive, fight against corruption through the establishment of the office of the Special Prosecutor. He is also likely to table some proposed reforms to the manner the UN Security Council is selected in order to have permanent representation for Africa. As co-Chair of the Advocacy Group of Eminent Persons for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the President will articulate some views on SDGs and the way forward for Africa on how to achieve all 17 goals by 2030.
With the President’s appreciation of all things English and all things French, we can only wait in earnest expectation of his maiden speech before world leaders. Would it be in strictly English or would the speech be interspersed with French. Your guess is as good as mine.
President Akufo-Addo’s address is today, September 21, 2017 at 14.00GMT
By: Wilberforce Asare/Presidential Correspondent/Starr FM and GHOne TV
