The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Justin Portal Welby, has described the country’s democratic process as exemplary in Africa, saying it is not based on tyranny but on clear policy and freedom of choice.
He cited double voting in Northern Ireland and the recent January 6 storming of the US Senate by some elements, describing those occurrences as political corruption, and said Ghana’s progress in democracy was promising.
Event The global spiritual leader of the Anglican Church made the observation when he responded to a toast by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at a dinner at the Jubilee House in Accra.
It was held in honour of the Archbishop when he led a delegation to the 18th Consultative Council meeting of the church in Accra last Sunday.
The delegates were made up of the leadership of the church from over 165 countries around the world. Constitutional pattern Dr Welby recounted how Ghana had, over the years, nurtured its own constitutional pattern of democracy and said although the country had had close and hard-fought elections, they were always free and fair.
“Democracy is something that we preserve by loving it, and for that to happen, senior politicians need to be willing to accept results and see the good of the country as more important than their personal future,” he added.
He further said Africa was the continent of the future, and that Ghana, which had great potential, had so far done well. “What we see is: it is the quality of leadership that is required and not the size of the country,” he said.
While urging Ghana to build on its achievements, the Archbishop of Canterbury entreated the government to support other countries on the continent to come out of conflicts and coups d’état.
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