Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 26 March 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Barely three hours after agents of the National Security were set on four journalists, three of whom were detained for a number of hours, former President John Agyekum Kufuor had an opportunity to speak on the need to promote press freedom at the plush Alisa Hotel in Accra.
He recalled how Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere and his other colleague journalists fought through thick and thin to restore the country to democratic rule.
President Kufuor was speaking at the launch of the book, ‘Between the Lion and the Elephant- Memoirs of an African Diplomat’ which was authored by Kabral.
President Kufuor recalled that in those days, “it was almost suicidal for one to cough on the wrong side of one’s mouth.
“It was people like Kabral who through their writings, like breadth of fresh air, gave revenge and voice to the people’s resolve to fight for their rights” in the dark days of former President Rawlings’ rule when freedom of speech was curtailed.
The former President revealed that this attribute of boldness and loyalty in the former Diplomat was what attracted him to Kabral long before he was elected President of the nation.
He appreciated the fact that Kabral, who until recently was Ghana’s Ambassador to La Cote d’Ivoire and formerly the High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, did not suffer from the often sterile sloganeering of some of his leftist colleagues.
President Kufuor therefore stressed the belief that Kabral’s writings on topical affairs on the state indeed helped to shape the destiny of Ghana as a nation in more ways than one.
‘Between the Lion and the Elephant’, representing the national symbols of Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, is considered a veritable mix of two professions (journalism and diplomacy) put together to give a good rendition of events as they happened in countries where Kabral served as a diplomat.
President Kufuor thus believes that fate seems to have positioned Kabral where he could see things not only unfold right before his eyes, but had the opportunity to participate in them.
Though Ghana abounds with rich history, the former President decried the lack of penchant for writing by Ghanaians, especially politicians like himself.
He therefore whipped up interest in writing books and memoirs to document lifetime experiences to keep as records for references and studies.
The 2008 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who had the privilege of writing the foreword of the book, also had a similar concern.
He noted that the earlier generation including the likes of Casley Hayford, J.B. Danquah, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr K.A. Busia had a knack for writing.
He however stressed that same cannot be said about the present generation of leaders.
For him, “it is good to see Kabral restoring that tradition with his third book”.
This tradition of writing, according to him, sheds light on some of the key problems a particular generation has to contract.
Nana Addo therefore stressed the need to encourage people like President Kufuor, whose political career spans a period of over 45years, and President Rawlings, to write their memoirs.
According to him, some of the issues that are alive in the West African sub region including the nature of transitional justice, the development of democratic institutions, the rule of law and rapid development, are raised in the book.
“Our democratic credentials are now an important part of our national assets,” he said, noting with emphasis, “It is right that we do everything to boost these credentials and look away from any activity that would tend to undermine those credentials.”
This, he said, was not because they guarantee the individual freedoms and liberties of Ghanaians but also because they provide “the best atmosphere in which we develop our economies”.
Present at the programme were high-profile personalities including Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Mumuni, members of the diplomatic corps, politicians, Members of Parliament (MPs), Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) members, businessmen and people from all walks of life.
The first copy of the book was bought for GH¢4,000.
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