Address by H.E. Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, President of the Republic of Ghana

On the Occasion of Receiving the 1993 Africa Prize for Leadership, Tokyo

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Excellencies, Colleague Award Winner:

A little more than a decade ago, in the midst of perhaps the worst period of hunger in Ghana, my countrymen and women coined an expression to describe the bones jutting around their lean necks. They called it the "Rawlings Chain" as if through this humorous gibe to remind us of our responsibility to remedy that unacceptable condition.

When a few years later our situation began to improve and the bones were covered with flesh, Ghanaians were generous enough to term it the "Rawlings Coat."

We acknowledge that it was mainly the noble efforts of our farmers and fisherfolk that brought us out from the "chains" to the comfort of the "coat." Therefore it is on their behalf, and in the presence of the winner of the 1992 Ghana's Best Farmer Award, that I accept the honour of this Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger.

Allow me also to pay special tribute to the women of Ghana whose key role in agricultural production is often understated. I myself have come to appreciate this more through the tireless work of my wife, Nana, in mobilizing the women of our country especially, in the rural areas. I am glad she is here today also to share, on behalf of all the women of Ghana, this honour you are according me this evening.

Mr Chairman, today, I stand alongside my brother from Benin, Father Nzamujo, who has come to symbolize the mission-minded approach which Africa needs to overcome its problems. This is no shortage of answers or ideas as to how to tackle our continent's problems. What has always been missing is the will to actualize good ideas through dedicated action. Father Nzamujo is a symbol in our sub-region of those willing to roll up their sleeves and get down to action.

For such a man the spirituality of priesthood is in no way a barrier to a daily encounter with the masses of people who God himself created to be on this earth. I am sure Father Nzamujo will attest to the difficulties and frustrations he faces most often perhaps from people he might have thought were his comrades. His dedication and commitment are an inspiring example to be emulated by our intellectuals many of whom have remained in the clouds, unable to translate their world of theory into practical activity within the societies that sponsored their educational attainments.

Mr. Chairman, the vision of the initiators of The Hunger Project must strike deep chords in the hearts of millions of people around the world to whom hunger is a daily reality.

From the deprived inner cities in the United States to Somalia; from the streets of Calcutta and Nima to the shanty of towns of Latin America; from Sarajevo to Angola, from Moscow to Monrovia; the pangs of hunger and want in the midst of all the technological sophistication the world has achieved highlight the responsibilities of leaders the world over.

Even people whose lives are seemingly far removed from the direct experience of these pangs now realize that as the clock ticks for the starving millions, it ticks for them too.

Today, the western media need not go far to witness the kind of scenes of hunger and deprivation that have come to characterize life in the third world. That desolation in the inner cities of Europe and the United States is itself a shocking revelation of the spread of poverty and hunger in the midst of plenty.

We therefore need to find mutually beneficial solutions to the crisis which has gripped the global economy, for the continued impoverishment of potential consumers on our continent is a recipe for continued recession in the industrialized North.

Mr. Chairman, it is quite fitting that this ceremony is taking place in Tokyo, capital of a country whose spectacular achievements in creating prosperity for her citizens from the ashes of nuclear devastation, provide us proof of what determination and commitment can do in nation-building.

It is also equally significant that this ceremony coincides with the International Conference on African Development hosted by Japan which is yet another expression of Japan's fellow-feeling with our continent even in a period of economic recession. This is a reflection of the humane leadership qualities that are much-needed in today's world.

I wish to seize this opportunity to thank the government and people of Japan for their immense support in our economic reforms in Ghana.

Mr. Chairman, the continent of Africa is rich: it abounds in the wealth of nature, in fertile lands, and in mineral resources. Most of all, our continent is rich with human resources which have even provided great wealth for people of other continents and built monuments of human creativity both inside and outside our continent.

Yet today, the image that the world has of us is one of stark poverty and misery. The screens of the international media vividly depict the anguished faces of our starving children and their helpless mothers.

Currently, on the African continent, more than half the population lives below the poverty line while the daily calorie ration remains the lowest in the world. Ours is the only area in the world where absolute poverty is not expected to decrease during the next decade but where, given existing conditions, it will probably increase. Of course the high population growth that averages 3 percent per annum if not reduced considerably will make the effort at ending hunger and poverty unsustainable.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the critical dimensions which some of our problems have assumed often given rise to a mood of pessimism. Such an attitude however belittles the efforts we have made so far on the continent. The present grim conditions in most parts of the continent do not invalidate the toil and sacrifices made by our people and in many respects the progress we have achieved for ourselves.

In the long run we in Africa must assume full responsibility over our own affairs. That is the only way forward. We must harmonize our continental and regional objectives with national development strategies. We need to direct our development to the growth of a local market and to this extent Ghana remains fundamentally committed to regional economic groupings as important institutions for harnessing the enormous potential of the continent. Failing this we may well continue to live with the paradox of hunger and poverty amidst untapped wealth at hand.

Mr Chairman, chronic trade imbalances remain by-products of the present global economic arrangements. We have seen how in the name of the free market our productivity is ruthlessly devalued. We worked hard to increase cocoa production and exports, yet we find that today the price of the commodity is less than half what it used to be in the middle of the last decade.

Our economic development plans continue to be constrained by these imbalances and again we must return to the battle cry of the developing countries for an international economic system that is in keeping with social justice.

Like those in the developed countries we are equally committed to the human rights of our people: rights that find concrete expression in the availability of food, shelter, clothing and adequate health facilities. Unfortunately, the crisis brought about by the low commodity prices does not enable our governments to honour the social contract with our people.

Mr Chairman, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the denial of basic rights to the majority of the world's population is a major contributory factor to the conditions of hunger and deprivation in the world and source of political instability. To seek to eliminate hunger without addressing this factor both within our countries and in the wider international realm is to miss the deepest impulses of human existence.

In short, we in Africa and indeed the developing world hunger for freedom, justice and democracy. Whether in our economic dealings with the developed North, whether in the United Nations, or whether in arrangements we enter into with the international financial institutions, or in our internal political relationships, Africans yearn for justice which must be the basis of the new world order.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, there is much that is positive in the growing sensitivity of the international community to the need for humanitarian intervention in situations of carnage. Thus, when in Somalia, those who lay claim to exercising leadership among their people rather allowed their rivalries to bring their society to the desperate conditions of famine, the conscience of mankind was stirred into reacting on behalf of the starving millions.

However, there are complex human issues involved in the resolution of this situation and the sheer application of overpowering military and technological might in a manner that seems primarily to want to avoid human causalities on the part of those intervening, risks appearing like a new super warlordism. The original objective of enabling food to reach the hungry becomes blurred giving rise to cynicism over such intentions. We in West Africa through our experiences in recent years in Liberia, have seen clearly that one must be prepared to die a little if we wish to be our neighbor's keeper.

Mr. Chairman, we know that the energy and potential of our people on the African continent are prodigious and that what remains is to channel these and provide a sense of direction. Over the last decade we in Ghana began to lift ourselves by our bootstraps. We have been creating the conditions not only to end hunger but also to allow the full flourishing of the enormous potential that our country has.

How are we doing this? First and foremost by offering to our people leadership of integrity that respects the potential of the lowliest citizen in the land and restores the pride and self-esteem of those who are the real producers of our wealth.

The re-invigoration of agricultural production required appropriate macro-economic policies: that gave due recognition and reward to the productivity of our farmers, better extension services, improved storage and marketing and the establishment of more rural banks providing better access to credit. While these policy measures have created favourable conditions for increased agricultural production, the most important factor was the restoration of the dignity and self-esteem of the rural producer.

In Ghana, the first Friday in December each year is now statutorily observed as National Farmers Day, a day on which we honour our farmers throughout the country and give awards to those who have excelled.

It is this rekindling of confidence and social responsibility among our rural people which has been the vital factor in putting us on the path to the sustainable end of hunger.

We did not, and have not, lost sight of the importance of engaging in a constant dialogue with our farmers in their villages and towns in order to have a better understanding of their real needs and concerns. Personally I see in this a mission to rediscover the country and use the symbolism of our office to take us to where many before us have never been. I believe through these encounters with our rural people and their living conditions we have stimulated and strengthened each other in the process of our country's self recovery.

To consolidate this psychological liberation we initiated a process of building up democracy from the grassroots years before "democracy" was placed on the international agenda as a conditionality for development assistance. We have been decentralizing the decision-making processes that was formerly the preserve of central government with the establishment of district political authorities to give institutional expression to the empowerment of our people.

Mr. Chairman, our aim is to deepen the process of social transformation that has been going on in our country through these institutional developments. We seek to stimulate the creativity and productivity of our people and at the same time ensure that the producers of the wealth participate in decision-making process at all levels.

I must emphasize that democracy and human rights are not new discoveries to us nor external standards established by other monitors from their cultural perspectives to assess our performance. The most important monitors of our progress are our people themselves.

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

If there is seriousness about establishing a new world order, we must examine how to embody common conceptions of what is just and right in this order. Unilateralism must give way to a new kind of leadership that is sensitive to humanity's diversity and especially to the conditions of the under-privileged. Bringing about the sustainable end of hunger must be one of the baselines of this new world order because it is scandalous for there to be so many hungry people in the midst of mankind's claims to civilization and lofty spiritual values.

We in Africa, and especially in Ghana, have been very appreciative of the deep personal commitment many citizens of the developed world have shown in working with us in our efforts to regain our dignity. The Hunger Project is an example of this partnership. Again, the direct involvement of many non-governmental organizations in development projects in many villages of our continent provide us a vision of the new global sensitivity that I referred to earlier.

Allow me here to pay tribute to the work that has been undertaken in Ghana by the Sasakawa African Association and Global 2000 in increasing the productivity of our small-scale farmers and combating diseases like guinea-worm in our rural areas.

May I also acknowledge the important work of Dr. Ebrahim Samba, the joint winner of the 1992 Prize and his colleagues on the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in eradicating the scourge of river blindness in some of the most fertile areas of northern Ghana, thus enabling formerly deserted areas to be resettled.

We in Africa do not take the assistance we receive for granted. We know that the best expression of our gratitude to our donors is to show the results of their help and make the 21st century Africa's century! But it will not just be Africa's century, it will be humanity's finest hour in which freedom from hunger will have become a fait accompli!

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, once more I thank the distinguished jury for this honour and assure you that my personal resolve arising from this occasion is to deepen further my commitment to the efforts against hunger on the African continent.

For me, therefore, this is not an occasion for celebration, but a time for sober reflection through which to strengthen our capacity for effective action. My prayer is that positions of leadership never make us complacent but rather challenge us continuously to the service of our people.

I thank you very much.