Ghana needs leaders with conscience, Saturday, June 28, 2011, pg 13

GHANA’S ability to further consolidate its democratic gains and economic development hinges on putting leaders with conscience at the helm of affairs, former President John Agyekum Kufuor has observed.


“ I am not talking about only political leaders. What we need are transformational leaders who are selfless and have a high sense of societal responsibility to serve. Unless our societies are served by good leadership, we cannot make progress,” he stated.

The former President made the observation at a community fund raising event in Accra to gather financial support for the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA)’s intervention programme for 2012-2015.

The intervention include programmes based on economic renaissance which seeks to improve upon the economic livelihood of young people by inculcating the culture of entrepreneurship, self employment, savings and investment. While that of civic engagement aims at promoting the participation of young people in decision making and social dialogue on issues that their development, health, education and sports component has the objective to ensure preventive healthcare of 2000 young people and making them live productive lives.

Former President Kufuor stated that growing up, the YMCA was an institution that contributed to impacting positively on his formative years.

Sharing his experiences in the 1950s at the Kumasi YMCA, he recounted that even without being preached to, the association served as a medium where ethics and transformational leadership was inculcated.

The association, he stated, was a transformational centre that deepened the sense of responsibility and shaped the attitude of the youth to face leadership prospects in the future.

He commended the association for its programmes which included providing capacity building for100 young people saying “I am impressed with what you are doing with the youth.”

Former President Kufuor urged the leadership of the association to work assiduously to ensure that the association recaptured its glorious days.

Mr Kwame Gyimah-Akwafo, National President of the YMCA, said the aim of the association was to empower young people in Ghana for renaissance in Africa.

He said some of the strategies to be used in the achievement of the intervention programmes included partnering organisations into youth development to implement relevant programmes,capacity building events and grooming of young people in leadership, business and livelihood skills and the exposure of young people to useful learning experience.

Serving about one million people with a membership of over 3,000, the Ghana YMCA operates in about 70 communities spread in eight regions. Since 1980, it has been at the forefront of developing the potentials of young people with the aim of making them productive and healthy citizens.

The Ghana YMCA started through the efforts of a young Gold Coaster, Michael Wilkins Abbey, who came into contact with the association in Scotland on a study tour to Europe. On his return to the country, Michael started the first YMCA in Accra.