Akufo-Addo honoured by Sorbonne University for his Free SHS, leadership in Covid fight, commitment to peace

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been awarded Honourary Doctorate Degree by a leading university in Paris, France, the Sorbonne University.

The honourary doctorate is in recognition of the President’s introduction and implementation of the Free Senior High School(Free SHS) programme and his leadership in the fight against the covid -19 pandemic in Ghana.

It  is also in recognition of the President’s commitment in entrenching the values of democracy in Ghana and fostering peace within the West African Region among others.

At a ceremony to confer on him, the honoury award on October 10, monitored by GhanaPlus.com, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said he was honored and humbled to be among great names such as Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer, Pablo Picasso, former UN Secretary General and an illustrious son of Ghana, Kofi Annan, Indian economist and philosopher, Amartya Kumar Sen and anti-apartheid activist and South Africa’s first President, Nelson Mandela who have all been honoured by the institution.

It is the duty of African leaders to build a fairer society – Akufo-Addo

In his acceptance speech, Akufo-Addo noted it is the duty of African leaders to build together with their population a fairer society where everyone can live in dignity and from the fruit of their labour.

“As African leaders, have a duty vis-à-vis our populations to build, together with them, fairer societies. Societies where everyone can live with dignity from the fruits of their labor. Societies where women and children but also the most fragile are treated appropriately. Societies where everyone, whatever their incomes, beliefs or ethnic origins, can have equitable and guaranteed access to the goods essential to the development of every individual and of society as a whole: access to water, food and quality care, access to energy, access to education, access, in short, to the decent life to which every free being can and must aspire”.

He was proud Ghana has been able to implement a police such as the free Senior High School( Free SHS) under his administration.

“From this point of view, I am very proud that Ghana has implemented a policy of free public high schools during my first mandate. It is a symbol for us of the central place that education must hold in the development of societies and the training of enlightened citizens able to play their full role,” Akufo-Addo said.

The Sorbonne University‘s award brings to four the number of honoury awards the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has received since he assumed office in 2016.

The first was an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree conferred on him in May 2016, by  Fort Hare University of South Africa.

The second was a  Honourary Hoctor of Humane Letters Degree from the University of Liberia in December 2017

And the third, an Honourary Degree was conferred on him by the University of Cape Coast, a leading University in Ghana on May 2021.

Source: GhanaPlus.com