Happy Republican anniversary

Isaac Yeboah Editorials Jul - 01 - 2013 , 15:18

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of Ghana’s Republican status. That day, July 1, 1960, the Queen ceased to be the Head of State of Ghana and our Prime Minister, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, assumed the position of President of the Republic.

Our first president used the wide powers vested in him to transform the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy by setting up many state-owned enterprises and nationalising those he thought could provide the strategic push for the rapid development of the country.

Looking back, Ghana made strides with industrial plants in every region, providing jobs for both skilled and unskilled people.

The First Republican government demarcated areas for the establishment of industrial zones, hence we have industrial areas such as Kaneshie North Industrial Area and others in Accra where there was a concentration of industrial concerns.

There was no total employment at the time, but these factories helped in a very big way to give jobs to university graduates, technical and secondary school leavers and even middle school leavers.

We are told that the government’s import substitution policy did not work because the groundwork was not done to provide the raw material base for the industrial plants.

This position may not be entirely true as the Nkrumah government set up state farms and other enterprises to provide raw materials for the factories.

It seemed some elements opposed to the pragmatic policies of President Nkrumah found all kinds of means in the fashion of ‘giving a dog a bad name’ to discredit the policies of the government in order to prepare the minds of the people to sell all the state-owned enterprises.

Today, all the state-owned enterprises are gone, while only few factories in the industrial zones established during the First Republic are on their feet.

Many of such industrial plants have been converted into worship centres and warehouses for the storage of imported merchandise from the Far East, Europe and America.

We should not look far to establish the genesis of the rising unemployment, including the phenomenon of graduate unemployment as industries that served as the avenue for mass job creation have collapsed.

It is going to be difficult to return to the days of state-led economic growth, especially in this era of the paradigm shift from state ownership of the means of production to the private sector being accorded the opportunity to lead the development process.

The Daily Graphic does not have a problem with the paradigm shift, except that in our case the environment is yet to be created for that shift to be effective.

The state itself has a big challenge fixing the basic needs of the people such as food, shelter and clothing to be thinking of the big issues of bringing the road network, the transportation system, and the energy sector to the level where they can become the enablers of national development.

At present, we are far away from the promised land. Our government needs to do more to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive so that the growing middle income class can spend more to stimulate growth in the economy.

Yes, the nation is faced with many challenges, but the good news is that we have the opportunity to find the local solutions and also push for better terms of trade on the global scene.

The Daily Graphic salutes the founding fathers of our great nation for their efforts to bring us thus far. We cannot forget the past as our experience will guide us into the future in line with what the Ewes say that xoxoawonu wo gbeia yeyea wo do.

We urge the present leadership of the country, particularly our political leaders, never to forget their social contract with the people to build a better Ghana, and backed by prayers from our leaders, Ghana will continue to shine in the world.