Page 97 - Afrika Must Unite

82 AFRICA MUST UNITE
republican systems of the world. We pondered for many months
whether we should establish the system followed in such countries
as India and the Soviet Union, whereby the titular Head of
State is the holder of an honorary position without power; or
whether to combine the Premiership with the Presidency and
give the highest position in the land to the effective leader of the
nation, as in the United States. We decided upon the latter
formula, making our necessary adaptations.
O ur decision took account of what seemed to us the most
logical, the most democratic and the most straightforward
formula. In a democracy, the real leader of the country is the
m an who has been democratically elected as leader of the party
which commands a majority in Parliament, which has been
democratically elected by the people. He is in fact the people’s
choice. Why, then, should he not combine the governmental
powers with the ceremonials attaching to the headship of the
State ? In our present environment and circumstances our people
associate primacy with power. The position of a titular Pre­
sident, merely signing acts of Parliament upon which he makes
no impact, would not have been easy for them to grasp. It is
not easy indeed for the student of democracy to grasp, for it is a
meaningless fiction, without content.
It is our hope that the system we have adopted, which com­
bines the Premiership with the Presidency, will give stability
and resolute leadership in the building of our country. In our
opinion, it responds to the mood of our people and meets the
exigencies of our actual situation. The reservation of certain
powers to the President was felt to be necessary in order to allow
opportunity for decisive action in pushing forward our develop­
ment.
Ghana has established a democratic structure employing the
normal paraphernalia associated with such a governmental
form, which is really ahead of our pre-industrial status. To have
effective control over the rate of our development, we had to hold
something in reserve. We had to trim our political coat to suit
our social and economic cloth.
The increased authority given to the President is to enable
him to exercise the positive leadership that is so vital to a country
seeking to pull itself up by its bootstraps. If I may change the