Yesterday a section of Ghanaians in the United States were at the UN Headquarters in New York to show their support and acknowledgment to the President’s leadership in the midst of our challenges.
The President is in New York, USA to participate in the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly High Political Level Political Forum under the theme: Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 agena and us sustainable development goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.
The President delivered his National Statement with a call for a reformation of the United Nations Security Council to reflect the current challenges and solutions of Africa and the need for reparations for African countries that were hugely impacted by the transatlantic slave trade.
Touching on the vexed matter of illegal financial flows from Africa, he referred to the report of the panel chaired by the highly respected former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, on the illicit flow of funds from Africa, which states that Africa is losing, annually, more than eighty-eight billion United States dollars ($88 billion) through illicit financial outflows.
“Yes, those monies too must be returned to the continent. It is difficult to understand why the recipient countries are comfortable about retaining such funds, and are happy to call those countries from whom the monies are taken as corrupt,” President Akufo-Addo indicated.
He was of the belief that a joint taskforce of the African Union Commission and the OECD Secretariat, under the auspices of the UN, should be charged to find ways of stopping the damaging outflows.