Are we proud of our sovereignty?
Wherever there is economic dependence, there is no freedom. All dependent territories are backward in education, in health, in agriculture and in industry. –Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
How apt and relevant today is the above axiom of the great founder and the first President of our nation!
From the perspective of the socio-economic challenges plaguing every national sector, it might be tempting to ask what really our priorities are and whether we could not cut our coat according to our cloth in some cases.
A few years back, the nation was neck–deep in debts accrued from unserviced loans over the years. Some might have been misused or misapplied, or even negligently squandered.
Happily, we benefited from what was known as ‘debts forgiveness and cancellation’ kindly granted by the donor agencies; hence handing us a clean debts sheet under whatever arrangements. But we now appear to be almost back in that quagmire.
It would suffice to state that our situation demands total unity of purpose, mobilisation of brains, constructive judgement, prudent use of loans and other resources and sound decisions to ensure the best for the nation and the citizens at all times.
The ugly and acrimonious Majority-Minority dichotomy in Parliament on critical national issues must therefore cease.
It must be emphasised that supporting unfortunate schoolchildren of poor parents with sanitary pads, schoolbags and scholarship schemes is commendable.
Needless to assert, the deprivation and impoverishment of the parents themselves might be due to actions and inaction of successive leadership, among other circumstances.
Nonetheless, funding the policy with a component of foreign loans could be disgusting and demeaning to our 57 and 54-year independence and nationhood status respectively.
More so, juxtaposing the US$15 million reportedly earmarked for the programme with the revelations at the Judgement Debts Commission and other alleged or perceived conduits in the economy, it should be possible to manage that from our own coffers; at least for national pride.
In spite of claims of judicious use of loans and resources, beating of chests and trumpeting of unprecedented socio-economic accomplishments chalked up by government after government, TV3’s ‘Mission Ghana’ is generously offering leaders the mirror to see how naked, deprived, miserable and deplorable the true situation remains.
Let’s take caution from the present state of the laudable School Feeding Programme and others initiated on funds from grants and loans, and plan well on our own strength.
Submitted by: Robert Teye Plahar