Speeches are paper, change is concrete !
By Dr. Ato Kwamena Danso · 26 September 2025 · Politics
Your last presence at the United Nations General Assembly in 1961 remains a touchstone of African leadership. This year, the current President of the Republic stood on the same global stage in New York, albeit dressed in a colorful smock, to deliver his address to the world. During your time, following the assassination of Patrice Lumumba after his appeal to the UN, you articulated the profound hope that the United Nations represented for world peace. Similarly, President Mahama delivered a powerful address, demanding greater representation for Africa within the UN Security Council structure and highlighting the fundamental injustices that contravene the organization's founding principles. However, the history of this great hall is filled with beautiful speeches that earned standing ovations, from Madiba to the Otumfuo's keynote address six years ago, and, of course, Barack Obama. Again, history tells us anything, it’s that the UN stage is a hall of beautiful, perishable rhetoric. These examples underscore a crucial truth: Words are fleeting and easily forgotten. People are ultimately remembered not by the eloquence of their speeches, but by the tangible changes they effect for humanity. Speeches are paper, change is concrete ! Here at home, President Mahama proved he knows the Constitution of Ghana inside and out, using its delicate clauses to expertly arrange the departure of a Chief Justice. Yet, shortly thereafter, he took to the UN General Assembly to champion a cause that seemed to forget the very nature of established power. He was there, passionately demanding reform and railing against the veto power enshrined in Article 27 of the UN Charter that beautiful little rule that lets any P5 member block a substantive resolution and ensures nothing truly binding happens against their core interests. President Mahama once vowed to decisively tackle the destructive illegal mining known as "galamsey." Regrettably, his administration's approach has been arguably the worst in Ghana's history. It appears the fight against this menace has been abandoned, choosing instead to focus on benefiting from the gold proceeds rather than ending the practice that is destroying our water bodies like never before. The landmark repeal of the criminal libel law under Kufuor is being aggressively undermined currently. Politicians, it seems, haven't learned the lessons of history and are rushing to embrace mechanisms that will ultimately silence them. The chilling warning holds true: "Freedom after the speech won't be guaranteed." All those beautiful speeches are wonderful, but you can't clean up a river with a standing ovation. Back home, your water is being destroyed like never before. So much to do, so little done, Ato_KD