African leaders have been advised to articulate issues bordering on security and economic empowerment in the upcoming summit on democracy to be hosted by the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
The Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Dr. Vladimir Danso, who said this, explained that these issues, if not addressed could have an adverse effect on the democratic governance of African countries.
He was speaking to the Ghanaian Times on the upcoming Summit on Democracy, to be held in the USA, aimed at setting forth an affirmative agenda and tackling the greatest threats faced by democratic today through collective action.
Ghana’s President, Nana AddoDankwaAkufo-Addo would be expected to participate in the upcoming Summit to be hosted by President Joe Biden.
In a build-up to the upcoming virtual world summit aimed at defending democracy and human rights, DrDanso has called on invited African leaders to push for a refreshing state of democracy across the globe and most importantly on the continent.
According to DrDanso, recent cases of political instability in some African countries were a major cause of concern as it had the tendency of hindering the practice of good democratic governance.
He further indicated that the African economy had been performing poorly, and this had even been made worse following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Businesses on the African continent have struggled to compete on the international market, as a result of the poor performance of the economy. Families and all other groups have been hard hit by the pandemic. There should be a direct focus to address these challenges,” he stated.
The summit comes off the back of some black citizens of the United States facing series of racial discrimination, police brutality among others.
On May 25 last year, African American George Floyd was murdered during police enforcement. This tragedy was filmed by pedestrians and spread on social networks, and subsequently triggered a round of “Black Lives Matter” movements. This incident has produced a strong response in American politics and social life, leading to the political and economic plight of contemporary American society.
According to data from the US Census, African Americans account for 13.4 per cent of the total population of the United States, making it the third-largest ethnic group after whites (76.3 per cent) and Hispanics (18.5per cent).
Blacks constitute a huge and important minority group in American society.
However, the proportion of this ethnic group in the American population is in sharp contrast with its social and economic status, which is a challenge to American democracy. The above data can clearly illustrate the relationship between race and economic inequality in the United States.
