Time is ticking fast - John Mahama calls for consensus-building to develop Ghana

• John Dramani Mahama has called for consensus-building to move the country forward

• He said that this will not hurt any leader who decides to go with it

• He made this known in his message on the commemoration of this year's June 4

John Dramani Mahama has called on the government to engage in broad consultations towards finding lasting solutions to the country’s current challenges.

According to the 2020 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), this will go a long way to help the government in fulfilling the needs of the citizenry, reports citinewsroom.com.

This was contained in a post he made via his social media pages to mark the commemoration of the June 4th Revolution.

He insisted that while “time is ticking fast,” things can be made better through consensus-building, adding that consultations and consensus-building will take nothing away from the nation.

“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 a consensus around issues such as economic recovery strategy, or implementational challenges of Free SHS in the national interest,” he wrote.

June 4 is commemorated yearly to mark how the late Flt Lt Jerry John 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.

This move was motivated by a desire to stem the scourge of corruption that had engulfed the country at all levels leading to a virtual breakdown of the economy.

Read his full statement below:

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 within our daily lives.

This has led to a crisis of confidence in 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 a 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.

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