Ghana’s Independence: looking back, the present and into the future

In the next three years, Ghana will attain seventy (70) years of independence. A nation as a living entity at seventy (70) must have attained full maturation and plateau in development to rock shoulders in the league of developed countries. Looking at where Ghana was ten (10) years after independence and where it is now, there is a dim of hope if it continues the way it has been in the last seven (7) to eight (8) years. Ghana at sixty-seven (67) years is a mixed feeling by every strand of imagination.

The pride of being the first country in sub-Sahara to have attained independence remains a fact but meaningless to the aspirations of the forefathers, the independence struggle and the current level of development of the country. At sixty-seven (67) the big question is ‘‘have we developed in ways that are expected by a reasonable standard of living’’? This question will be the fulcrum of Ghana’s sixty-seventh (67) special Independence Day reflection.

I will focus on twelve (12) areas of our national life opening vistas for exploration for all to reason and develop ideas as a springboard actionable in the next three (3) years for national development.

1. Finance & Economy

One of the biggest pains of many is the lower ebb of the finance and economy of Ghana. The collapse of many local banks referred to as the re-organisation of the banking sector remains a wonder. In simple layman’s terms, more money was used to collapse the banks when less money was required to keep them in operation. It is explained as lapses by the regulator to anticipate and work assiduously to avert the breakdown of the financial sector.

Not only did the operation result in higher unemployment in the sector it also resulted in many losing their investment and to some businesses, accessing loans for business is whittled off their business plan. This has affected businesses hence the folding up of many.

The forex is another challenge to the economy. The current Cedi to US dollar trading rate means that if nothing drastic is done to stop the free fall by the close of 2024, the cost of doing business in Ghana will become unbearable to many businesses.

Inflation is high. Government creditworthiness in the international money market is dwindled with many players not confident in government borrowing. The high-handedness leading to this is known to all players in the sector. The move profited a tinny crop of leaders to the detriment of the country. They became richer, we became poorer.

The all-time lower level of the economy has resulted in a poor standard of living by already a suffering percentage of the population. The cost of living has become so high, that basic local food items like corn, gari, coconut oil, etc. suddenly became luxury food items.

What can be done in the next three (3) years to bring back life into the finance and economy of Ghana? The government is at its wit’s end. An all-inclusive national finance and economic thinking is required but with the current government at post will it listen?

2. Leadership & Governance

Nothing and absolutely nothing should be done to interrupt this fourth republic. The country needs this stability to develop. The interferences since independence particularly the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah remain a scare on the country’s conscience and development.

The bad leadership and governance that took over after the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah messed the country in every sphere of its life. A seeming nature is currently being experienced in a metamorphosed way. Be that as it may, there is a collective duty on the nation bearers to say never again what happened to Nkrumah.

The fourth republic has lived the longest and must be allowed to continue living. The democratic process is not merely about elections and people vowing to entrench their positions in power. All processes leading to a peaceful election must be ensured unfailingly. The people must be assured that their peace will remain. It is the duty of the leadership of the country to thrust this hope into the people. Arrogance and pride will not end in a footnote.

The institutions of democracy must be empowered to work at their ultimate. Favouritism and partiality must be forsaken. Transparency, accountability and fairness are the hallmarks of democracy. These are leadership attributes expected from the national leadership.

What we have seen so far is not encouraging particularly the monetization of democracy where aspirants heavily pay their way to power. Sights and sounds of this year’s political parties’ internal elections give credence to over-monetization which hinders meritocracy. The government’s own party did not lead by a good example and given the chance it will be worse.

What can be done in the next three (3) years to bring back meritocracy into the leadership and governance of Ghana? The government is at its wits end. An all-inclusive national thinking on the subject is required particularly a proposal for financing of political parties by the state but with the current government at post will it listen?

3. Agriculture

At sixty-seven (67), we are still not self-sufficient in basic food items despite the vast array of fertile land for crop farming. Shameful to say the least that Ghana imports food items such as tomatoes, onions, etc. from neighbouring countries that Ghana is supposed to be feeding.

An improper national planning that places priority on less important things certainly plunges its country into difficulties. With proper national planning, agriculture and its production and supply chain would have absorbed almost all the unemployed leading to nation feeding at lower cost and export for foreign exchange to propel national infrastructure development.

The woeful failure of agriculture development in Ghana is a reflection of bad leadership planning. The sloganeering for ‘‘planting for food and job’’ is nothing but a ‘‘curse’’. The outcome is a whooping failure seen in the prices of ‘‘gari and kenkey’’.

4. Education

Public education in Ghana today is no longer a pride. The continuous depletion in quality is nothing but a symptom of political mathematics where the government thinks that by providing mass low-quality education, the vulnerable and gullible will see it as a favour by the government and reward it in the ballot box.

Unfortunately, the abysmally poor public education handed down the country by this government in the last seven (7) is a cardinal ‘‘sin’’ that needs atonement at Easter. Sadly, school education and certification our President can boast of is what he obtained in Ghana. It begs the reason why he has not wholeheartedly in a qualitative manner develop the public education system.

The whole education system in Ghana needs an overhaul by serious-minded educational professionals devoid of political colouration to reset Ghana’s education among the league of Respected Educational Nations in Africa. For what we have now is nothing but a shame.

5. Health & Sports

Ghana at sixty-seven (67) with poor health and sports system. How can it be explained that patients at Nkrumah’s Ghana lie on the floor to receive medical treatment at public hospitals? An old lady once exclaimed which is interpreted as if you want to die go to the public hospital. So frightened I began to think into her mind to see the reason that accounted for her statement. I concluded among the following;

• No bed syndrome is a national menace.
• Medical negligence is on the rise.
• National Health Insurance Scheme is virtually not functioning.
• Inadequate supply of medicine is real.
• Medical professionals brain drain is at all time level high.
• Poor infrastructure.
• Political deceit in the name of medical development; demolished an existing hospital with vague promise of a replacement but not in-time.

In sports, Ghana no longer boasts of any field of excellence not to think of completely killed sports like horse racing. The weekend of national local sports; horse racing on Saturdays and football on Sundays has completely given way to European football with associated heavy gambling indiscriminately. Government’s overzealous interest in betting tax rides post to the detriment of a healthy youthful country.

In conclusion, Ghana has been let down intermittently by bad governments. Some praise those governments because they benefited characteristic of the immortal words of the English poet William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850):

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played:
Their thoughts I cannot measure,
But the least motion which they made,
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

other sectors of the country that require reflection are Information and Communication Technology, Housing, Culture, Religion and Entertainment but for the limited space that this publisher will admit, I will do an extended version of this article in the future.