By Stephen Asante/Kodjo Adams
Accra, July 08, GNA – Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has urged the Church to work with the State to better the lives of the citizenry.
“We are partners and not competitors in many areas of human endeavour,” the President noted.
The churches served the very purpose that the government also served – promoting the wellbeing of the people, he explained.
“This is the intersection, the convergence point,” he emphasised.
President Hichilema was speaking on the theme: “Maintaining Excellence, Integrity and Service in an Era of Global Instability and Permissiveness”, at a special honorary awards’ ceremony at the Valley View University (VVU), in the Greater Accra Region.
The programme saw the University, Ghana’s first private and chartered university, conferring four honorary doctorate degrees on some distinguished African personalities at the ceremony.
It also presented a citation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Those who received the honorary doctorate degrees were President Hichilema, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, former First Lady, and Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Ghana’s Chief of Staff.
The awardees were selected for their selfless dedication to the cause of humanity and society, having provided the needed leadership and also distinguishing themselves in their respective fields of endeavour.
President Hichilema lauded the VVU Council for the honour done him and the other award recipients.
Highlighting the importance of university education, he said it played a critical role in transforming the society positively – finding an antidote to the challenges confronting mankind.
Consequently, African leaders should inject the requisite resources to develop education in general to an appreciable standard.
“Education is the best investment, the best equaliser and the best inheritance,” he stated.
“There is no single country that is doing well economically and socially today that did not invest in education,” the Zambian President stated.
Education, he explained, was the only platform presenting underprivileged children with the opportunity to harness their knowledge, potentials and skills for productive and meaningful lives in the future.
President Hichilema assured of his country’s resolve to continue sharing development experiences and working with Ghana to improve the living conditions of their people.
GNA