US President Barack Obama addresses Ghanaian Parliament at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra on July 11, 2009. He has said Africa Governments should respects their citizens' voices at election time. Photo/REUTERS
IN SUMMARY
- US President was answering questions sent to him by Africans ahead of his trip to the continent last week.
United States President Barack Obama has said Africa Governments can better serve its people if they are satisfied that their voices are heard during elections.
He was answering questions sent to him by Africans ahead of his trip to the continent last week.
President Obama said that when there is peaceful transition of power, when people feel that their voices were heard following an election the government works better. He added that such governments have greater legitimacy and that the private sector and civil society feels that it has a stake in making things work.
"As a consequence, Ghana development has shown itself to be superior to some countries that do now have these solid democratic institutions.
"It is something that we have seen throughout Africa where you have governments that work and that are not based on ethnicity and tribe but rather based on the rule of law, then they are better at fighting corruption and people have a greater commitment to have things work and everybody prospers," Mr Obama said.
First destination
He was responding to a resident of Niger, who asked President Obama to explain how the rest of the continent can learn from his choice of Ghana as his first destination in black Africa.
Prior to the visit, The White House collected questions and comments for America's first black president via SMS, Twitter, Facebook and from newspapers across the continent.
Three African journalists - Ms Angela Quintal of Independent Newspapers in South Africa, Mr Mamadou Thior of Radio Television Senegal (RTS) and Mr Peter Kimani of The Standard in Kenya – in turn picked three of the questions for the president to answer.
Prince Samuel from Nigeria asked President Obama what plans he had to encourage Africans in the diaspora to return home and contribute to the growth of Africa economically, politically and among other areas.
Improve governance
The American president said that African governments must improve governance and the rule of law if people are to be encouraged to invest in the continent. He added that what can be done to get young people to Africa is for them to feel that they have a future and they have an opportunity in the continent.
"Unfortunately, so many young people feel that either economic opportunities are blocked or limited because of the fact that they may have to pay a bribe to get a job or they may see the government mismanaging the economy or being too heavy handed on them," said Mr Obama.
In the third question, the US president was asked by a South African to outline the plans he had to improve trade between his country and Africa.
President Obama said that one of the principles he is spearheading to bring to the US–Africa relationship is that economic development in Africa will not only be based on aid but rather on building capacity within Africa.
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