Professor Justice V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, has said Ghana must replace the support from the International Monetary Fund and donor partners with a strong sense of responsibility and individual initiatives.
“We cannot build a strong national character, unless each and every one of us builds a strong character for mother Ghana,” Prof Justice Crabbe stated. “The best measure of our strength is how we accept responsibility.”
Delivering his inaugural address for the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, on the theme: “The Philosophy of Man”, Prof Justice Crabbe, therefore, urged Ghanaians to embrace responsibility as a means to achieve advancement in all facets of development.
He said, “We have the duty to develop ourselves to the fullest because no one else would do what we need to do for ourselves”, explaining that the most important office in democracy was the Office of the Citizen. “Each citizen is responsible for what Ghana has as a nation; and what it does not have.”
The eminent jurist noted that the Law of Cause and Effect was always applicable in every facet of life, saying, “As a nation, we cannot sow corruption, greed and reap economic development for whatever a man sows is what he reaps.”
Prof Justice Crabbe asked; “Is the President of the Republic of Ghana responsible for the filth that has engulfed us? Is there a set-up or an authority in Local Government that is responsible for the sanitation of our cities, towns?” If there is, whose responsibility is it to see that the city, the town, or the village is cleaned?
The former Constitutional Adviser of the Ugandan Government stated: “Because we run away from responsibility, we are all sick as a nation looking for salvation outside our nation. The basis of development is responsibility!”
“We have the responsibility to make our lives better, to keep our honour lighting, but if we want our conditions to improve, we must improve ourselves.”
He, therefore, called for the priority of quality education to facilitate the efforts to develop and become the great nation that the citizens desired.
He explained that failure was the accumulation of opportunities, while progress was the fulfilment of the promises of today.
These, he said, began with the acceptance of responsibilities, while responsibility was another way of opportunity.
“If we want a society of law and order, honest and just living, then we must first be law abiding, to set an example for others to follow,” he said.
Prof Justice Crabbe said nature had provided everyone with the power to resolve and solve his/her own problems, saying, “Our actions yesterday are what keep us in the quagmire we find ourselves today and in our day-to-day hardships and cries.”
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