President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the University for Development Studies (UDS) will be renamed after the late former President Jerry John Rawlings.
This comes after Mr Akufo-Addo said the family of the late former Ghanaian leader have accepted the proposal to that effect.
An earlier proposal to rename the university after the Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was rejected by Mr Rawlings when he was alive.
He said “However, President Akufo-Addo, speaking during the final funeral ceremony of Mr Rawlings at the Black Stars Square in Accra on Wednesday January 27 said that “There are many who acknowledge him as the Founder of the 4th Republic, a Republic which has proved to be the most enduring and stable in our history, and which has witnessed eight (8) successive elections, three peaceful changes of government from one party to another, and five Presidents. For all his revolutionary antecedents, he set, in 2001, the enviable precedent, which has, since, guided our country, of respecting the two-term limit of the Presidency and superintending the orderly transfer of power to his democratically-elected successor.
“Whilst he was with us, he, respectfully, declined an offer I made to him, in 2017, to have the University for Development Studies, Tamale, (UDS), which he, personally, helped establish, named after him. His reason was that, in adhering to a long-standing principle, he did not want to have any national monument or facility named after him. Two days after his passing, at the 21st Congregation of UDS, I expressed my strongest convictions, in spite of his reservations, that such an honour should be accorded him. I am glad that this has found favour with his family, and the necessary formalities will be carried out to achieve this, i.e. The Jerry John Rawlings University of Development Studies, Tamale.
“Such is the measure of the man that the days associated with his political interventions in Ghana, i.e. 15th May, 4th June, 31st December, and 7th January, are now significant days in the calendar of the nation. But, the most significant of them all must be 7th January 1993, the day that ushered in the 4th Republic. It is in recognition of this that I decided to commemorate 7th January as Constitution Day on the national calendar. It is, perhaps, the greatest tribute a grateful nation can offer to the men and women whose efforts led to the establishment of the 4th Republic. It is my hope and prayer that he remains, forever, the longest-serving Head of State in our nation’s history, for that would mean that the 4th Republican Constitution and its enshrined term limits have endured.
“His actions were not limited to Ghana only. The African nationalist that he was, he held unwavering positions on all matters concerning the wider continent of Africa, especially when they involved foreign interference and control of Africa’s destiny, and was quick to voice his views on them.
“His chairmanship of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government set the example, whereby virtually all his successors, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Dramani Mahama, and I, the 2nd, 4th and 5th Presidents, respectively, of the 4th Republic, have been honoured by their peers with the occupancy of that high office, reinforcing the pan-African vocation which has been an essential element of Ghanaian public policy since independence.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
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