Former President John Dramani Mahama has advised the government to take advantage of broad consultations and consensus-building as he believes that these will help solve critical issues for the benefit of the nation.
The former President noted that as a country with exceptional human talent, it is important to right the wrongs before it is too late.
His comments made in a social media post via Facebook was in commemoration of the June 4th Uprising.
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“Ghana is a country with exceptional human talent. Time is ticking fast and yet we can make things right if we work as one nation with a common destiny. As I have said in the past, broad consultations and consensus building does not take anything away from a leader.
Broad consultations that bring the best and brightest together with stakeholders can forge consensus around issues such as economic recovery strategy, or implementational challenges of Free SHS in the national interest”, his post read.
June 4th Revolution
The June 4th Revolution or June 4th Uprising was an uprising in Ghana in 1979 that arose out of a combination of corruption, bad governance, frustration among the general public, and lack of discipline and frustrations within the Ghanaian army.
It was sparked when late Flt Lt Rawlings led a group of junior officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces in an uprising against the then Supreme Military Council (SMC II) regime led by General F.K. Akuffo.
Rawlings accused the government of massive corruption leading to a virtual breakdown of the economy.
Three months later the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) led by Rawlings handed over power to an elected government.
Below is his full statement
For the first time, the people of Ghana, comrades, supporters and sympathizers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will commemorate the June 4 Uprising without the inspirational and arresting physical presence of the Founder of our party, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings (Rtd.), our former President, who departed from us last year.
He was a key influence on Ghana’s history for the two decades straddling the late 70s till year 2000.
The June 4 Uprising was an epochal event that represents a major landmark in our nation’s existence. Together with its sister event, the 31st December Revolution, the two shaped the course of Ghana’s history resulting in a turnaround in Ghana’s economic fortunes and the advent of the 4th Republic.
Forty-two years on, our economy and democracy are in dire straits. Economic hardship, insecurity, political and ethnic polarization, deepening inequality, politicization of our democratic institutions, corruption, serious problems in the education and health sectors are challenges Ghanaians are confronted with in our daily lives.
This has led to a crisis of confidence in the political leadership.
Ghana is a country with exceptional human talent. Time is ticking fast and yet we can make things right if we work as one nation with a common destiny. As I have said in the past, broad consultations and consensus building does not take anything away from a leader.
Broad consultations that bring the best and brightest together with stakeholders can forge consensus around issues such as economic recovery strategy, or implementational challenges of Free SHS in the national interest.
The values June 4 espoused some four decades ago, remain as relevant today as ever before in our nation’s democratic journey. June 4 engendered hope in our people that the ills of our society would be rooted out and replaced with values of virtue and honesty.
If we must get our people to hope again and to trust in our institutions and government, then we must encourage “fearless honesty” as enjoined by our national anthem.
We must embrace and be guided by truth, transparency, probity and accountability – principles that have been bequeathed unto us, which are the bedrock upon which our nation, undoubtedly, will become great, strong, resilient and prosperous.
We must encourage freedom of thought and expression rather than a culture of hypocrisy and silence.
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May the spirit of our Founder live on!
I wish all our comrades a happy June 4 Anniversary!
John Dramani Mahama
Former President of Ghana
