How some people have underdeveloped Ghana

• Illegal mining activities have degraded our rich lands and polluted some of our water bodies, among others

When Nana Nkosuohene, the Odikro of Nkatiekrom swore before his people that he was determined to stamp out corruption from society, many were those who doubted him because previous leaders in that village could not measure up to that expectation.

However, when this Odikro assumed power and was installed as such, he began to come out with changes that in no time the entire community benefitted from. Until the time of this progressive and dynamic Odikro, many were those who felt that he could not implement his plans to make life better.

He kept telling his subjects that Rome was not built in a day, so if he was given the needed support, he would be able to come out with the desired results. With time, he proved his critics wrong and after some time, everyone turned round to praise the Odikro of Nkatiekrom, Nana Nkosuohene. Many were those who were involved in corrupt practices and laziness, a negative development that turned back the clock of progress. But determined as he was, Nana Nkosuohene was able to make progress and develop his community for the common good. This situation is comparable to what is happening in Ghana today.

HIGH HOPES

The high hopes of Ghanaians for quality life in the years after independence, having taken their political destiny into their own hands by virtue of their independence on March 6, 1957, were comparable to rains from the sky surely bound to fall to the ground.

So high were the hopes that, it was thought that within a few years after independence the country would be able to produce enough food and industrial goods to satisfy its needs and even have surplus for export, build up dependable or reliable infrastructure in the form of transportation systems – air, land and sea – as well as reliable energy and water supplies, among others, not forgetting quality social services in the form of good health, education and comfortable welfare systems. However, this was not to be because the pace of development at all fronts has been abysmally slow and below expectation.

SECTORS

The educational sector, for example, has been moving forward and backward, failing to equip the youth with the requisite knowledge and skills needed to address the challenges the nation is facing. It is interesting to note that at a time when the country needed a consolidation of direction towards the achievement of goals in the educational sector, a result-oriented Senior High School (SHS) system, for example, was reversed in 2013 from its original four-year duration to three years to create two streams of SHS graduates at the time to fight over limited places in tertiary/professional institutions.

Again, one crucial problem was accessibility to SHS as well as technical and vocational institutions at the second-cycle level. Fortunately, President Akufo-Addo’s free education policy at this level took effect in September 2017 to reduce the burden on parents and open up accessibility to many students.

Many people, including government officials, tend to focus on only expansion in accessibility to SHS under President Akufo-Addo. What many of them fail to point out is increase accessibility to vocational and technical schools. Indeed, government is rightly encouraging many people not only to focus on grammar education, i.e. SHS, but technical as well as vocational education which have all been made free, alongside the SHS, under President Akufo-Addo.

Besides, the energy sector has been poorly managed over the years, resulting in serious consequences. With good maintenance culture, the Akosombo and Kpong dams together with the Bui dam, Atoabo Gas plant and the Aboadze thermal plant could ensure steady supply of energy. In addition, independent power producers as well as exploitation of new sources of energy, if well executed, could have a more positive impact on the country’s economy.

Unfortunately, what did we see recently or a few years ago under the previous government? We saw unreliable, erratic power supply that came to be known as “dumsor”. Until recently when the situation improved, power generation proved to be inadequate while its distribution was so poorly done that it led to frequent power outages, sometimes leading to destruction of gadgets, burning of homes and offices and even loss of precious lives.

GOODS AND SERVICES

In addition, Ghanaians appear not prepared to produce their own goods and services for the nation, preferring massive importation of goods which has led to the growth of foreign economies rather than that of Ghana. The current government’s Planting For Food and Jobs programme will help to address this problem. Similarly, our value-added exports have dwindled over the years, bringing in far less revenue than expected.

It is the hope of Ghanaians that the One-District, One-Factory programme will be successfully implemented to result in value-added exports. This is important because massive imports have not helped the country.

No outsider will come to Ghana to build this nation for Ghanaians. Yet, many people care less about the future of this country while corruption has become the order of the day. It is a common thing to find political leaders linking up with certain individuals and organisations to dupe the nation in various ways. This behaviour, unwarranted as it is, is what, for example, has led to what may be called the “woyomisation” of the economy of Ghana.

SELF DESTRUCTION

As a young person studying at the University of Ghana for a Bachelor’s Degree some years back, I was introduced to a book titled “How Europe Under-developed Africa” by Walter Rodney. The author sought to put the woes of Africa on the Europeans who cheated Africans through what was perceived to be exploitative trade. While this was true to some extent, it makes Africans not responsible for their own misdeeds. In the same way when we come to Ghana, Ghanaians also cannot escape blame for the sorry state of affairs in the country today, especially after 64 years of political independence.

Our problems relate to poor attitude to work, illegal mining, embezzlement of public funds, humongous corruption, lack of patriotism, poor sanitation, lack of proper planning, etc. In light of all this, is it not right to raise questions on the need for critical self-auditing?

If it is, then the urgent desire and determination to re-think our positions towards a selfless, positive, realistic, and result-oriented transformation, in line with President Akufo-Addo’s vision, is what we need now!!!

All Ghanaians need to agree to this and realise that we need to put our heads and efforts together to rebuild our country now that we have a leader who is genuinely prepared to lead the way to achieve our avowed national aspiration, progress and development.

Contact email/whatsApp address of author:

Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)

BY DR KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO