Dr Zanetor Rawlings calls for ethical leadership

Dr Zanetor Rawlings, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Klottey-Korle Constituency in Accra has made a call for ethical leadership to do away with the canker of corruption in Africa.

The Ghanaian legislator made this call while contributing to a panel discussion on good governance on the African continent at the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D Group) Africa Week 2018, held at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

The Ghanaian MP stated that institutions on the continent require leaders who stand on the moral high ground. She said, “It doesn’t matter how perfect an institution is, if the people within the institution do not display a certain level of high morality or ethics, it will be corrupt.”

She further stated that the cultural context and socio-economic situations in Africa are “crucial to good governance, and the establishment and consolidation of democracy.”

Dr Rawlings who was at the event to represent the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the largest opposition party in Ghana said, “poverty and greed are drivers of corruption.

“If people are not impoverished, if people are economically empowered, no one can bribe them to make a choice.”

She also chided Western nations for putting their economic interests above human rights in the developing world.

“Until we reach a point where economic interests are no more important than fundamental human rights we won’t see an end to these problems. The sustainability of democracy is in making sure that all people are treated equal, and not put another country’s economic interest ahead of the fundamental human rights of the less fortunate.”

Dr Zanetor Rawlings who is the first daughter of former president of Ghana and the founder of the NDC, J.J Rawlings, is a rising star on the Ghanaian political landscape who appeals to the youth and highly tipped to be selected as former president John Dramani Mahama’s running mate to contest the 2020 presidential elections.

The Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats – the second largest political group with 190 members from all European Union countries, plays a key role in the field of Africa-EU relations and has been working for a renewed Africa-EU partnership as a key political priority over the past years.