History, they say, has a way of repeating itself. Today is exactly 52 years when His Excellency Mr Edward Akufo-Addo of blessed memory took office on 31 August 1970 as the first, and as it turned out, the last President of the Second Republic, which also happened to be the first government of the UP Tradition, headed by the legendary Dr K A Busia.
In his first address as President, the late President Akufo-Addo said something as significant in our contemporary politics as it was then.
He said: “It is not my belief that a legalistic approach to all questions under the constitution is the most useful.
“It is not my belief that every disagreement under this constitution should be solved only by judicial adjudication, and it is not my belief that any of the men in charge of the several estates will want to take a strictly legalistic stand in this matter”.
Nana Chairman, this is the voice of a man who could be described as a ‘Law man’, a very high-standing lawyer and a judge at the apex of the judiciary and yet admonishing that we should not assume a legalistic stance on every matter that bothers us.
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to emphasise that as chairman of the biggest political Party in Ghana, I share the admonition of the late President. My humble request, therefore, is that all of us, as members of the Family, should always consider what will be in the interest of the Party, even if we must sacrifice our personal and individual interests.
In my opinion, it is in the general interest and progress of the Party that our individual and collective welfare may be found. There are matters which can be resolved amicably if we prioritise the collective good of the Party and its goals. The need for amicable solutions to our challenges in the Party is more crucial now than ever, given the herculean task of our commitment to breaking the eight.
We can best break the eight if we bear each other’s burden, forgive each other when we are offended and work diligently to support the government’s efforts to ameliorate the plights of the Ghanaian people and get them to appreciate the immense progress being made in the country under this government.
Looking at the bigger picture, we are surrounded by the enormous examples of selflessness, patriotism and vision that Okyeame Baffour Akoto and many of our forebears exhibited. Because of those selfless and patriotic deeds, we feel happy celebrating Baffour Akoto’s memory today. During their time in the pre and immediate post-independence era, the political situation in Ghana was quite stormy.
Those days one could be cast into prison without knowing their offence, courtesy of the notorious Preventive Detention Act. People like Baffour Akoto could have remained comfortably in the palace and let the politicians do their so-called dirty politics. He instead chose the more challenging option of helping to salvage the situation to secure true democracy for the nation.
Gladly, the philosophy and principles that Baffour Akoto, J B Danquah, S D Dombo, K A Busia, and several others of our tradition espoused have now become the foundation of our democratic society, which have been deepened by the tremendous leadership of J A Kufuor and which are being continued by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as presidents of the Republic.
The memory of people like Baffour Akoto must be a lighthouse that beckons us to navigate towards patriotism for national development.
As we pay homage to Baffour Akoto, the man through whose vision, charisma, respect and devotion the great brains from all walks of life were assembled to give birth to the UP Tradition, which has today given birth to the New Patriotic Party, let us all contemplate what we can also do to propel the progress of our dear country for our generation and those coming after us.
Long live the memory of Okyeame Baffour Osei Akoto. Long live the New Patriotic Party, and long live Ghana.
Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention. May the Almighty bless us all.