President John Dramani Mahama has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza while renewing Africa’s long-standing demand for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council.
Speaking at the 80th UN General Assembly in New York, President Mahama condemned the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, describing it as an unjustifiable assault on innocent civilians.
“Women and children are facing collective punishment and forced starvation for no reason other than the fact that they are Palestinian,” he said.
He criticized the global community for what he described as a failure to acknowledge the reality of atrocities in Gaza declaring “For nearly two years, and for the fear of reprisals, we here in this General Assembly have been playing hide-and-seek with language to avoid what we all know is taking place in Gaza,” Mahama declared. “But here is the thing: if it looks like a duck, it swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, well then it must be a duck. The crimes in Gaza must stop.”
The Ghanaian leader also condemned the reported denial of visas to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation, calling it “an affront to diplomatic norms.” He emphasized that only a two-state solution could guarantee lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.
Turning to global governance, Mahama reiterated Africa’s frustration with its exclusion from permanent decision-making at the UN Security Council.
“The UN’s founding charter is outdated when it comes to representation,” he argued. “The most powerful post-World War II nations are still being rewarded with an almost totalitarian guardianship over the rest of the world. A continent as large as Africa, with its numerous UN member states, deserves at least one permanent seat on the Security Council.”
Mahama’s remarks drew attention to both the urgency of resolving the Gaza conflict and the need to restructure global governance to reflect modern realities.
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Source: Frederick Kofi Thompson-Quartey/ATLFMNEWS
