President John Dramani Mahama has called for greater control by countries in the Global South over the financing, resources and decisions that shape their health and development programmes.
Speaking at a high-level event on the Accra Reset in New York on Monday, September 21, 2026, President Mahama said countries cannot genuinely claim ownership of development programmes when key decisions remain in the hands of external partners.
“Today, through the Accra Reset, we declare unequivocally that there can be No Ownership Without Control,” he said.
He argued that sovereignty cannot be achieved simply because a country signs a donor agreement, stressing that control over resources and decision-making must form part of any meaningful ownership.
President Mahama, however, cautioned that transferring power from international institutions to national governments would not automatically guarantee sovereignty.
He said greater national control must be accompanied by accountability, noting that governments must ensure public resources are properly managed and used to serve citizens.
“Moving power from distant boardrooms in Geneva or Washington into an unaccountable ministry in Accra, Abuja, or anywhere else will not magically manifest sovereignty either,” he said.
The President said the initiative had spent the past year building structures to translate its philosophy into practical policies.
According to him, the Accra Reset has established a Presidential Council, constituted a Guardians’ Circle and formed a High-Level Panel on Reform of the Global Health Architecture and Governance.
He said the initiative was now moving from policy design to implementation, with the High-Level Panel’s report, “A Sovereign Future for Health,” providing ten practical recommendations for reforming global health governance.
President Mahama warned against allowing the Accra Reset to become another international initiative that generates declarations but fails to produce tangible results.
“We are now moving from design to execution. Too often, visionary ideas are born with great fanfare, only to die quietly in New York’s diplomatic corridors. We will not let that happen to the Accra Reset,” he said.
The report proposes measures including stronger national health systems, sustainable financing, regional health manufacturing, improved procurement, stronger regional institutions and independent mechanisms to track commitments by governments and development partners.
President Mahama also linked the Accra Reset to his government’s domestic Resetting Ghana agenda, arguing that national and global reforms must advance together.
“The Accra Reset is taking the logic of the Resetting Ghana to the international stage. A national reset without a global reset leaves us building on shifting sand,” he said.
He added that the two agendas were interconnected, saying global reforms would be difficult to sustain without discipline and reforms at the national level.
The President also emphasised that the Accra Reset was not intended to isolate developing countries from international partners, but to promote partnerships in which countries have greater capacity, control and accountability.
Ghana is expected to carry the Accra Reset agenda into broader continental policy discussions when it assumes the chairmanship of the African Union in 2027.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Mavis Fantevi
