Credo in Deum et Ghanum

(… I believe in God and Ghana)

Throughout his campaign to become the President of the Republic of Ghana after President JA Kufuor, Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently laid down his credo in Ghana and throwing the challenge to fellow Ghanaians to believe in Ghana too and join him in his quest to return the NPP to power in the December elections. At the recent IEA encounter his power, strength and conviction in re-stating his faith in Ghana came when he ended his speech with the following words “I have a strong desire to serve Ghana with a clear conscience, pure motives and a solid character. I will offer a leadership of competence, courage, compassion and commitment. From Pusiga to Axim, from Hamile to Keta we all by fate are Ghanaians first. We have to emphasise the things that bring us together. I believe in Ghana and I ask you also to believe in Ghana… And with God as our guide, we shall succeed.” By this Nana has simply laid a strong creed in God and Ghana [Credo in Deum et Ghanum]. Nana’s creed stems from his deep conviction in Ghana and in the fact that Ghana has a future with God on our side.

Every living being believes in something. It ranges from believing in a higher being, an object to believing in themselves or other beings. It is our belief that determines our faith and drives our determinations as human beings. Belief or faith is often used to refer to the strength of conviction that we carry. Belief is a unique concept that refers to a confidence or trust in a greater good. It embodies two significant respects. First, belief implies a causal role by the believer in an outcome based on his faith or in overcoming a personal fear. Second, belief implies advancement or accomplishment. Nana Akufo-Addo’s belief in Ghana is defined in his determination to dedicate his patriotic service to public duty and the consistent high standards that he has set with it for in the last 30 years. Asked what he means when he says he believes in Ghana, these are the foundations of his faith in Ghana; “To believe in Ghana is to defend, support and be prepared to serve free Ghana. To believe in Ghana is not to allow your energies to be sapped away by either the failures of the past or the challenges of today. To believe in Ghana is to embrace today’s challenges as opportunities for a better tomorrow. To believe in Ghana is to be proud of Ghana’s rich diverse culture, customs, traditions and history. To believe in Ghana is to be devoted to her welfare and freedom. It is to stand up in defence of the state even if, in dissenting, you offend the temporary custodians of the state.  It means believing in her economic capacity; it means knowing that such belief is not futile, for, clearly, the Ghanaian has the entrepreneurial capacity to create a prosperous society for the great majority.  To believe in Ghana is to insist that those in authority lead by example. To believe in Ghana is to believe that for those who lost their lives for the good of this country, their sacrifices were not in vain; that indeed, Ghana is a country worth dying for. To believe in Ghana is to be a responsible citizen. To believe in Ghana is to believe in yourself as a Ghanaian, as someone capable of contributing to the building of a successful, modern African state, operating on the principles of democratic accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law. To believe in Ghana is to believe in a state where fairness and social justice are essential attributes of its body politic. To believe in Ghana is to make Ghana by our own efforts what it should be: one of the greatest places on earth.”

It is belief that drives actions and for me such an elucidation of belief or faith gives me hope for Ghana and I want to buy into that belief. Muslim have a strong credo: “Allahou akbar, la allah illalah, Mohamed razoul Allah” which means: “Allah is the greatest, there is no other allah (god) than Allah (God) and Mohamed is his prophet”. As Christian, my religious belief is in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. This is what drives my faith. As a patriotic Ghanaian, I do not have any credo other than believing in Ghana, believing in the cause of freedom and of right. Nana, like many of our patriotic forebears, has given us the foundations of our faith in Ghana. This strong belief that Nana holds is what in my opinion holds the edge over the other candidates in this year’s elections which are truly historic for our nation. He has for the past thirty years as a person, cared deeply about the future of this country. Over the last three decades, he has been in the trenches, fighting to establish our democracy, to expand the frontiers of our freedoms and to make our nation better. From UNIGOV to KUMEPREKO, he has always been there – on the side of right, on the side of the people, on the side Ghana. He knows therefore, in a very personal way, the price we have paid for our freedoms and our current growing prosperity and the price has been worthwhile because we have been able to wrestle back our choice for freedom and a chance for development. The choice is whether to move forward in this belief with the New Patriotic Party or go back to the intimidations and non-performance of the National Democratic Congress. There are clear differences between the major parties. Belief drives actions for vision and performance; while intimidation begets anger and frustration characterised as the stock-in-trade of the NDC

Dr. J. B. Danquah, the Doyen of Ghana’s politics laid down our original credo which underlines the NPP’s policy which “is to liberate the energies of the people for the growth of a property owning democracy in this land, with right to life, freedom and justice, as the principles to which the government and laws of the land should be dedicated in order specifically to enrich life, property and liberty of each and every citizen”.

Nana Addo stands with the NPP in the belief that the modernisation of our nation demands the structural transformation of our national economy, and that the rapid development of the industrial sector, especially its manufacturing component, is critical to the pace and success of that process. Furthermore, we believe that Ghanaians must drive this transformation, primarily, of course, for the benefit of Ghanaians. In line with that belief, we see by the end of the next decade a nation with industries evenly spread across the country from North to South, from agro-businesses to petrochemicals with industrial growth rate above 12% and industry’s share of GDP doubling to 50%. I am an apostle of this belief. I believe in modernizing our society; I believe in transforming our economy; I believe in deepening democracy. I believe in strengthening ties with our regional and continental neighbours and finally I believe in a campaign of ideas and not of character assassination. I believe in Ghana. Do you?

God bless our homeland Ghana

Kwesi Atta-Krufi Hayford London

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.