Ghana came into existence in the 12th century when successive tribal kingdoms led by the Guans migrated across the Sahara to this present nation state. By the time of the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, there were already established kingdoms existing here, led by traditional authorities.
They were not lucky as gun wielding European invaders descended on us from Portugal, Denmark, Brandenburg (Germanic), Holland, Britain, France, Austria etc. They took away millions of our citizens first to Latin American Countries of Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and later to Mexico and USA to work as unpaid labourers in their Silver/Gold mines, and Plantations of food/cash crops. They also took away most of our natural products - cola, cowrie shells, gold, diamond, shea butter, palm oil copra etc. The age of Imperialism, Slave Trade and Colonialism fell between 1482 and 1951 = 469 years. The European Nations exploited us to their fill.
In 1951, Dr Kwame Nkrumah's CPP Government took over from Dr J B Danquah's UGCC to assume Self-Rule. The First Republic governed well and built up a huge proper infrastructure in the years up to 1957, when the British gave us our full Independence. From there on we hit a snag: corruption, bribery, nepotism, patronage, poor administration and socialism weakened our economy. Ghanaians suffered far worse than the Colonial period. By the end of First Republic, Ghana was bankrupt, heavily indebted and has never recovered to date.
From the overthrow of Nkrumah by Kotoka-Ankrah-Afrifa in 1966 to the rise of Second Republic led by Dr Busia's Progress Party in 1969, Ghana had a weak fragile economy, which led PP Govt to enact Policies like Devaluation, retrenchment of public waste, appropriation of small scale businesses and rural government to help redress the imbalances but the government was short-lived - - 2 years 3 months ending in January 1972. Acheampong's poor economic policies including repudiation of our Foreign Debts -Yenntua Policy, Kakabule or unbridled corruption, over militarisation of our institutions and unstable leadership further weakened the economy. The poor NDC-SMC government (1972-1979) gave an excuse for Jerry Rawlings to taste political power in 1979, which has never abated to date!
Despite handing over to the Nkrumaist PNP Government, we all expected the power-hungry and covetous Rawlings and his loud mouthed socialists to overthrow Dr Limann's government of 2 years and 2 months. The economy was quite weak when Rawlings came to power. For 19 years (1982-2001) Ghana experienced a weaker, ailing, bankrupt economy and social stagnation, which destroyed our good school systems and the controversial divestiture of state institutions and economic organisations. We had never been poorer in our Nation's history.
Rawlings handed Ghana over to President Kufuor's government as a highly indebted poor country. Without the 8 year Intervention of NPP Govt (2000-2008), which saw the rise of GNP for the first time, discovery of oil and many social interventions, Ghana would have sunk lower to greater depths!
All the gains have been whittled to the ground by the Mills-Mahama led NDC Government. They have killed the donkey and thrown away its water. Our National Debts have risen from $9 to $210 Billions with only shopping malls, shoddy roads, boreholes, 2 Interchanges and pork barrel projects to show for. The high levels of bribery and corruption across the ruling government surpasses Rawlings Regime, Acheampong's Govt and last year's of the First Republic.
In short, centuries of colonial exploitation and imperialism, military kakistocracy, bogus revolutionary dictatorship and copious abuse of power and corruption have rendered Ghana very very poor, indeed. We are one of the poorest countries in the world now - with weak balance of payments, astronomically high indebtedness, lack of real infrastructure and basic amenities, high morbidity and mortality rates, low agricultural produce and stagnated social policy. We do not even have good drinking water and much electricity, but rather leads in open defacation, poor sanitation and mass unemployment!
We pray that Ghanaians will vote for NPP and form a Democratic Nationalist Government with most of the Constituencies involved in the decision-making process, all under an incorruptible Ghanaian Nationalist of profound historic background!
In God's name we pray, Amen!
In 1951, Dr Kwame Nkrumah's CPP Government took over from Dr J B Danquah's UGCC to assume Self-Rule. The First Republic governed well and built up a huge proper infrastructure in the years up to 1957, when the British gave us our full Independence. From there on we hit a snag: corruption, bribery, nepotism, patronage, poor administration and socialism weakened our economy. Ghanaians suffered far worse than the Colonial period. By the end of First Republic, Ghana was bankrupt, heavily indebted and has never recovered to date.
From the overthrow of Nkrumah by Kotoka-Ankrah-Afrifa in 1966 to the rise of Second Republic led by Dr Busia's Progress Party in 1969, Ghana had a weak fragile economy, which led PP Govt to enact Policies like Devaluation, retrenchment of public waste, appropriation of small scale businesses and rural government to help redress the imbalances but the government was short-lived - - 2 years 3 months ending in January 1972. Acheampong's poor economic policies including repudiation of our Foreign Debts -Yenntua Policy, Kakabule or unbridled corruption, over militarisation of our institutions and unstable leadership further weakened the economy. The poor NDC-SMC government (1972-1979) gave an excuse for Jerry Rawlings to taste political power in 1979, which has never abated to date!
Despite handing over to the Nkrumaist PNP Government, we all expected the power-hungry and covetous Rawlings and his loud mouthed socialists to overthrow Dr Limann's government of 2 years and 2 months. The economy was quite weak when Rawlings came to power. For 19 years (1982-2001) Ghana experienced a weaker, ailing, bankrupt economy and social stagnation, which destroyed our good school systems and the controversial divestiture of state institutions and economic organisations. We had never been poorer in our Nation's history.
Rawlings handed Ghana over to President Kufuor's government as a highly indebted poor country. Without the 8 year Intervention of NPP Govt (2000-2008), which saw the rise of GNP for the first time, discovery of oil and many social interventions, Ghana would have sunk lower to greater depths!
All the gains have been whittled to the ground by the Mills-Mahama led NDC Government. They have killed the donkey and thrown away its water. Our National Debts have risen from $9 to $210 Billions with only shopping malls, shoddy roads, boreholes, 2 Interchanges and pork barrel projects to show for. The high levels of bribery and corruption across the ruling government surpasses Rawlings Regime, Acheampong's Govt and last year's of the First Republic.
In short, centuries of colonial exploitation and imperialism, military kakistocracy, bogus revolutionary dictatorship and copious abuse of power and corruption have rendered Ghana very very poor, indeed. We are one of the poorest countries in the world now - with weak balance of payments, astronomically high indebtedness, lack of real infrastructure and basic amenities, high morbidity and mortality rates, low agricultural produce and stagnated social policy. We do not even have good drinking water and much electricity, but rather leads in open defacation, poor sanitation and mass unemployment!
We pray that Ghanaians will vote for NPP and form a Democratic Nationalist Government with most of the Constituencies involved in the decision-making process, all under an incorruptible Ghanaian Nationalist of profound historic background!
In God's name we pray, Amen!
Opinion by Kofi Freeman Amponsa-Dadzie
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