Consolidating Independence gains: Consensus building needed

Yesterday was historic. Ghana attained its 65th milestone since gaining independence and ceasing to be a colony of the British in 1957.

Sixty-five years of governing itself and taking charge of its own affairs as a nation-state is no mean achievement.

Indeed, we have come a long way, yet there are many rivers to cross.

However, we can’t cross these rivers with a divided front, and so as we celebrate this milestone, it behoves all of us – politicians, traditional rulers, religious authorities, academia, opinion leaders, students and professionals to work together in the national interest.

It is a shame that after 65 years of nationhood we are still battling with basic needs such as potable water, good roads, poor sanitation habits, indiscipline and the like.

It will only require a sense of nationalism and patriotism from all of us to get our country on the path of the development and progress that we so earnestly desire.

Today, we have a hung Parliament, which is also reinforcing the need for consensus building and more engagement. We need both divides in the national construction effort.

Unfortunately, the country has been polarised along political party lines, especially with the two main political parties – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC)-- so much so that many things of national interest do not get done.

In instances where they are done, there is so much delay because of the back and forth, such that most of the gains are eventually lost.

No one group has all that it takes to build the nation. Today’s dynamics calls for compromises, deepened dialogue and consensus building to get things done, but it must all be done with the benefits to the nation in mind.

As we celebrate another milestone as a country, what we need to do is to stop politicising every issue that is of benefit to the entire citizenry.

If Ghana were a worker, at 65 it would have been on retirement and at this time it must be reaping the dividends of its labour over the years.

If at 65 we are not enjoying any dividends as a country, then we must begin to do things anew, set stretchy targets and come up with timelines to meet our goals.

One worrying thing that has eluded us as a country over the six decades is the lack of a development plan that must be followed through by subsequent governments.

Although we have established the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to spearhead the holistic development of the country, over the years the carefully laid out plans have been put aside by succeeding governments which have thought those plans were not good enough for the country, or their political parties had better plans.

This kind of posture has not augured well for the country, but has resulted in haphazard and delayed development of the different sectors of the economy.

The Daily Graphic believes that our next milestone should see us do far better as a country than what our generation has so far done.

Our forefathers gave us political independence and we are struggling to gain economic independence. We can, however, attain the economic independence that we long for as a country if we think Ghana, compromise and put the nation first in all deliberations towards such development. After all, no one is more Ghanaian than the other.

This is the charge before us and we must not fail the next generation.