In a classical exhibition of Ghana’s progressive democratic credentials, President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has for the umpteenth time demonstrated adequate tactfulness and diplomacy so required in the execution of proper and healthy governance structure of the country.
Analysis following the President’s encounter with the press on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 to render an account of his stewardship for the past six months since his swearing in seems interminable.
For various sectors such as agriculture, education, health, sports, the commentary so far has been very positive. Pressure group Occupy Ghana has been full of praise for the succinct responses the President gave to the vast array of questions posed from journalists and media practitioners across the local and international landscape.
This year’s Presidential media encounter has gained particular commendation for the inclusive nature of how some sector Ministers whom, by our governance structure are part of the executive arm provided answers to some of the questions posed.
This laudable move has caused renowned political science expert, Dr. Eric Oduro-Osae, the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS), to call on the other arms of government; the legislature and judiciary to replicate the gesture. According to him, Ghana’s democratic dispensation would achieve significant gains if the other two arms of government meet the media periodically to discuss issues pertaining to their constitutional mandates.
Undoubtedly, the over thirty years’ experience of President Akufo-Addo in frontline politics has always been a reliable well spring from which guided speech deftly laced with temperate and diplomatic discourse oozes from with rarefied finesse.
The presser at the flagstaff house also presented another perfect platform for the President to put this rare yet necessary peculiarity to the service of the nation when seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt Junior asked a question regarding the raging diplomatic strife between Morocco and the Sahrawi Republic.
The President, in a classic Akufo-Addo style offered the best response anyone can ever give on an issue of this shape, form and fashion.
He indicated the need to adhere to strict prescribed procedure saying “The leadership of ECOWAS has decided to go through a procedure for examining the merits of the application. I think we will make our voice heard at the appropriate time.
But today, we will not tell you where we are, we will want to see the process that will be put in place and then how we will respond to it.” The answer therefore absolved Ghana from committing itself to either party whilst adhering to due process.
This very smart response not only entrenches the earlier position stated here that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who served as Ghana’s foreign minister for four years under President Kufuor, and was once co-chair at the United Nations Security Council is a powerhouse in International diplomacy and relations but also a reliable source of education in policy foreign relations.
It is common knowledge that issues birthed under this diplomatic cloak should be handled as it is, diplomatically. A word or phrase even when unintended has the tendency to wreak diplomatic havoc and sever ties with the likelihood of escalation.
Once upon a time, a similar encounter begat the epic ”Dzi wo fie asem” foreign policy statement when ace journalist Kwame Sefa-Kayi enquired from the then President John Evans Atta Mills a statement on the post elections violence in the Republic of Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana’s western neighbour.
President Mills retorted that it is safer for Ghana to literally “mind its own business” than poke into the affairs of other sovereign nations. He received a lot of backlash as critics said in the face of globalization one cannot live in isolation of the goings on prevalent on the global landscape and most especially when it involves a direct neighbour.
Kwesi Pratt’s question was obviously one of the best on that day; however the President’s answer will forever go down as a perfect case study to one of the long standing principles of international diplomacy as proposed by Alfred Zimmern that “A peaceful world requires the transformation of power politics to responsibility politics”.
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