University of Glasgow honours JJ

PRESIDENT Jerry John Rawlings has warned that as long as poverty, inequalities and social injustice persist, there cannot be a favourable environment for good democratic governance in the third world.

Good governance, the President said, goes beyond the parameters and theoretical structures of political parties, elections, manifestos and other prescriptive modes of consulting the wishes of the people.

President Rawlings made these points in Edinburgh yesterday when he addressed the 129-member Scottish Parliament.

The President told the Scottish MPs that good governance “goes to the heart of the issue — the well-being and basic hu-man right of our people.”

President Rawlings explained that for those who live in developing societies lacking basic provisions of primary health, housing, food security, among other things, the first and foremost concern is to satisfy these needs.

This, he said, is more important than political rhetoric which often degenerate into widespread and misguided motion by certain western institutions that being democratic only means changing from one ruling party to the other, even if that is not the wish of the people.

As a consequence of this, he said, some countries have become the victims of a massive machination by external agencies throwing corrupt monies behind certain political parties opposed to ruling governments.

These, he said, undermine the very basis of political peace and stability, which constitute the essence of any system of democratic governance.

President Rawlings noted that if democracy should succeed in the third world, then their economies must be strengthened.

The President stated that as the world enters the new millennium, new challenges emerge which need to be addressed.

He noted that the domination of a single world view tends to marginalise Africa in global decision making.

He, therefore, called on the global community to respond with greater vision and energy to ways in which the governance structure can deal with the problems of fragile developing countries.

Meanwhile, the University of Glasgow, one of United Kingdom’s most prestigious centres of learning, on Tuesday, conferred on President Rawlings an honorary degree of law for his many achievements for Ghana and the international community in general.

A citation read by Professor Malcolm Mcleod, Professor of African Studies and Vice-President for External Relations, recognised the role of President Rawlings in the positive changes that have taken place in Ghana since he began to “direct the destiny of Ghana” some 20 years ago.

It said by the 1970s, Ghana’s economy was in chaos but the country has shown a lot of prosperity since President Rawlings introduced reforms in the various sectors of the economy.

The citation said the press in Ghana is free and vibrant, while other sections are growing in prosperity.

Internationally, Prof. Mclead said, Ghana has played a leading role in peacekeeping and maintained a role as the leader of the African continent.

The citation praised President Rawlings for his personal modesty, saying “from the period of economic collapse to revival, from his military administration to constitutional rule, Rawlings has kept his rank as Flight Lieutenant.”