Accra, Ghana—UPF-Ghana met with the speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Hon. Aaron Mike Oquaye, on Tuesday, July 10, 2018. The two parties, among other things, discussed the necessity of launching the Ghana chapter of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP).
Dr. Helen Mabel Osei, secretary general of UPF-Ghana, introduced the members of her delegation to the meeting, which was held in the Speaker’s Conference Hall at the Parliament House. They included Ambassadors; Osogna Nii Dr. Adjei Kraku III, leader of Tema Mantse and representative of Ghanaian chiefs; Rev. Prof. Edwin Nmertey Korley, rector of Manna Mission Theological College and representative on UPF’s Global Peace Council; Rev. James Aidoo, head of the Ghana chapter of the Family Federation for Peace and Unification; and Rev. J. B. Dankwa, special adviser to UPF-Ghana’s executive committee. Also present were Bishop Ezekiel Goodman Anim, president of the Ambassadors for Peace Network of Ghana; Mr. John Yaw Osei, technical expert; Hon. Frank Fusseini Adongo, member of Parliament and deputy minister for the Upper West Region and, Dan Jim Selassie, head of media, UPF-Ghana.
In her remarks, Dr. Helen Osei appealed to Honorable Oquaye to facilitate the formation of IAPP, which has been formed in over one hundred countries across the globe to underscore efforts to create lasting peace, which is needed for development. She also informed Mr. Speaker that the second UPF Africa Summit is scheduled to take place in South Africa in November 2018, to be hosted with the South African government and the family of the late President Nelson Mandela: And she made a brief statement on UPF Coffee Project earmarked for African countries, for which a group of African government and business representatives attended an entrepreneurship conference in Kona, Hawaii, in December 2017.
Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament was among scores of leaders that included sitting and former presidents, House speakers and former speakers, chiefs and traditional rulers who converged on Dakar’s Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre between January 18 and 20, 2018, for the first-ever UPF Summit held on the African soil. The Africa Summit which was themed “New Africa, Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values,” attracted over 1,200 participants, including 15 sitting and former heads of state, speakers of parliament, ministers, and religious and traditional leaders from 60 countries. Honorable Oquaye was one of the speakers at the Summit.
Speaker Mike Oquaye pointed out to the visiting UPF-Ghana members that peace cannot be equated only to the absence of war and that it is better to work to prevent conflicts from escalating into deaths, which would bring only “peace in the cemetery which has no value to the living.” He urged the UPF-Ghana chapter to make its presence felt in the country by regularly contributing to the peace process through conflict analysis, preventative measures, and peace building. He assured the UPF-Ghana delegation of his unflinching support to the group and willingness to put in place an ad-hoc committee to see to the urgent formation of the Ghana chapter of the IAPP.
House Speaker Oquaye took the opportunity to advise superpower nations and organizations making various social proposals for the developing world to also consider the cultural values and norms of target nations. He urged them to focus on fundamental human needs, like potable water, good health care, beds in hospital wards, good education, and sufficient shelter and clothing.
“Everyone should appreciate the right to good health, nutrition, and peace, which are all vital human rights that should equally be protected, promoted and jealously guarded. These were what rich nations should be focusing their effort on,” Mr. Speaker stressed.
At the end of the meeting, UPF presented to House Speaker Oquaye an Ambassador For Peace membership certificate, an exemplary leadership award, and a medal donated by the Little Angels dancing troupe to honor him as the head of Ghana’s government delegation to the First Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal.