Evaluating Ghana @ 60
Next week will be a busy moment for the nation Ghana as its celebrates 60 years of nationhood. Since winning political independence on March 6, 1957, the nation Ghana has achieved some modest successes and made some strides to develop its economy.
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From the First Republic to the present, various governments have contributed their quota and played diverse roles towards attaining this elusive economic emancipation. It will, therefore, not be out of place to commend efforts made, though the nation could have done far better.
Political independence from the British Colonial rule gave Ghanaians the much needed space to build a prosperous and economically viable Ghana we so much desired.
What are we celebrating?
However, since attaining the much anticipated independence, one thing that has consistently eluded the nation Ghana is the attainment of economic independence hence “what is there to be celebrated?
Already, various national programmes for the 60th anniversary have been outlined. From today, the Ghana@60 Planning Committee is rolling out educative and entertaining activities. The Ghana Actors Guild will re-enact the 28 February Crossroads Shooting incident to honour the heroes who started the independence struggle. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will also lay a wreath to recognise the contributions of the country’s fallen heroes and heroines.
Tomorrow, there would be a video documentary on tales of yester-years starting from the independence era to date.
There will also be a premium lecture on Thursday on the topic: ‘’Mobilising Ghana’s Future’’ which will be serialised with focus on education, health, infrastructure and other significant topics.
On March 3, there will be a National Prayer Thanksgiving by Muslims at the Central Mosque, where Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is the special guest. Prayers will be said for the nation.
There will also be a premiere of a 90-minute documentary on March 4, entitled: ‘‘Gold Coast, a Glorious History of Self-Determination’’ which chronicles the history of Ghana from the Gold Coast era to modern-day Ghana.
On March 5, there will be an inter-faith prayer service at the Holy Spirit Cathedral which the Catholic Bishops Conference, Charismatic, and Pentecostal churches and all other religious denominations will attend with the President as the special guest.
The anniversary parade will be held at the Black Star Square on March 6, to mark the 60th anniversary which will see the various security agencies in their colours while schoolchildren, market women, teachers and others will march to commemorate the day.
On March 7, there will be an International Gospel Concert where renowned gospel musician, Don Moen, and other internationally-acclaimed musicians will feature.
According to the Ghana@60 Planning Committee, Ghana@ 60 anniversary celebrations would be wrapped up on March 17, 2018.
Beyond celebrations
But beyond the national celebrations, what constitutes our mission and vision for the next generation of Ghanaians? Where do we want to see Ghana at 70, 80 or even 100?
Sixty years down the lane, despite the attainment of political independence, Ghana is yet to come up with home-grown solutions to overcome its numerous socio-economic challenges.
We are struggling to attain socio-economic sovereignty as a country in the midst of the numerous natural resources.
Sixty years after independence, we have allowed the activities of illegal mining to destroy a very important resource, water, as our rivers are drying up as a result of the incessant pollution of our rivers and lakes.
Chiefs, opinion leaders, the police, politicians, among many others, are all involved in destroying the environment under the guise of mining.
Sadly, our economic lifelines are still dependent on foreign countries, donors and development partners. No economic activity, including seminars and workshops, are held in the country without the support and help of these donors or development partners. Our budgets are always supported from external sources and yet we are not prudent in resource management. We are so wasteful and profligate in the use of our scarce resources. We are quick to acquire luxury for our politicians while the mass wallow in poverty. Sixty years on, we still have schools under trees, we see children of school-age thronging near the traffic lights to beg for alms. Day and night, they are found there with their parents hiding in the shadows, yet we pride ourselves on celebrating what we perceive as a milestone.
Is it not a shame that while we go cup-in-arms to beg for crumps from our development partners, we sit in some of the expensive, luxurious vehicles and patronise plush accommodation while we pretend to sympathise with the poor whom we go out to solicit votes to attain the reins of power.
Again, let us consider, for instance, how the country’s resources are shared by politicians when they exit political office, all in the name of exgratia. In the year 2001 it happened. It happened again in 2009 and now it is happening again in 2017. Will the trend continue and happen in 2021?
This nation can definitely not do well, if we continue to tread this path.
Just last Sunday, when it rained in the capital, it was so chaotic driving through the city. Clearly, it was obvious that the city is not prepared for the rainy season, which is just around the corner. So soon, we have forgotten the incident of June 3, 2015 when more than 150 innocent lives were lost, due to the negligence of some city authorities and the government at large. After mourning and drying the tears, we have soon forgotten the ordeal and trauma which that unfortunate experience brought on relatives who lost their loved ones in that disgraceful incident. All the various projects that were started to ensure that there was no recurrence of this unfortunate incident have been stopped, hence the unfortunate situation that occurred after an hour of rain that hit some parts of the city and elsewhere last Sunday.
Build consensus
Nevertheless, over the years, expecially in the Fourth Republican dispensation, political parties in government have largely acted in a very partisan manner. This approach, which has eaten into the very fabric of our national life, has been one of the major banes of our economic challenges as a country.
In dealing with our numerous economic challenges, it has become necessary for us to begin to build consensus on national issues. We must come together as Ghanaians, irrespective of one’s political affiliation, to find Ghanaian solutions to our challenges.
Political leaders, especially those in government, have the major responsibility for bringing everyone on board in order to build consensus to arrive at the most viable solutions to our economic challenges.
Now that we have our new substantive ministers of state in place, much will be expected of them to lead the transformational agenda for wealth creation and economic growth.
We cannot achieve economic sovereignty, if we continue to do the same things we have been doing for the past 60 years and expect different results. Things must be done differently to achieve impactful results.
Chiefs, opinion leaders, the clergy, Imams, the media and all those who command respect in society must rise to the occasion. What should be uppermost in their minds is what the state of the nation, in the next decade, will be for our future leaders. Selfish interest, which has become the order of the day, must be secondary while the primary objective for nation building becomes the focus.