Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, condemns coup d’états at the St. Andrews Africa Summit (SAASUM) and calls on African leaders to solve economic challenges.
Asantehene otumfuo Osei Tutu II has expressed reservations with the spate of military coup d’états in his key note address at the St. Andrews Africa Summit (SAASUM), in Scotland where he called on African Leaders to address the continent’s Economic Challenges.
Delivering a key note address on “Traditional Leadership in a Modern Society,” the monarch described the military take overs in West Africa as backward and unsustainable.
“Let me make it categorically clear that regardless of the circumstances, I do not think that military intervention offers a solution at this point in the evolution of our continent. There was a time where circumstance produced the notion that power flew out of the barrel of a gun. Those times are over and we face completely different circumstances now,” the Otumfuo emphasized.
The King likened coups to the perilous scenario of jumping on the back of the tiger and pouring fuel on an already inflamed situation.
Critical Economic Challenges
The Asantehene however charged African leaders to avert their minds to the economic downturn frustrating lives and stifling opportunities for its citizens.
He outlined: “The critical problem confronting Africa is the economy. From north to south; east to west, and all in the center, the burden is the economy.”
It is how we ensure every family and every citizen has food on the table; it is how we create jobs for our young men and women so they can stay and serve their country. It is how we find resources to provide education and healthcare for our people and how we apply our intellectual gifts with which God has richly endowed us to improve the conditions we inherited. It is about how we mobilize the cultural resources for the good of our society. The state of our economy hinges on the security of our states. Poverty and unemployment creates instability which presents both opportunities for discordant voices.” the Ashanti overlord added.
Coups in West Africa
The West African Sub Region has been riddled with military take overs particularly on the francophone block.
Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Gabon are on the table of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as leaders of the regional block explore mediation to return these countries to democratic rule.
By: Ivan Heathcote – Fumador
Tags: Otumfuo, St. Andrews Africa Summit (SAASUM), Coup D’états, Poverty, Economic Challenges, Traditional Leadership
