Ghana needs economic independence now — GCPP
The Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) has saluted Dr Kwame Nkrumah and all visionary leaders who contributed significantly towards Ghana becoming an Independent state.
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As the first African nation to achieve independence, the GCPP pointed out that Ghana’s sovereignty brought with it both the challenge and responsibility of proving to the world that “the Blackman is capable of managing his own affairs,” as was stated by the first President of the Republic.
In a statement signed by the party’s Chairman and Leader, Dr Henry Herbert Lartey, 57 years later, in the midst of our abundance in both human intellect and our God given natural resources, we prefer to go begging cup-in-hand at the doors of donor nations, soliciting for help which sometimes never come.
“We Ghanaians have failed to domesticate our economy, we have failed to lead Africa into a new era of prosperity, and we have failed to make Ghana the Black Star of Africa. But far worse than this, we have also lost the dream, hope, focus and aspiration to do so,” the GCPP stated.
According to the party, it was the dreams and hopes of the founders that Ghanaians would be the Black Star, leading the people of this continent towards a powerful and united Africa.
In the view of the GCPP, dreams and hopes were not the only ingredient in building a nation, rather, the economy is where these dreams must be organised, supported and developed.
The party recalled that the founder of the GCPP, the late Dan Lartey, sought to reawaken the spirit of unification and economic empowerment through the implementation of the Operation Feed Yourself during General Acheampong’s regime.He ,therefore, introduced in 2000 the concept of domestication which meant “Eat what you grow and grow what you eat, feed your industry and export what is left.”
The concept of domestication, the GCPP said, was about using one’s own resources for development, stating “This principle has to be embraced by all the governments and people as this had successfully turned India, Brazil and China into economic powerhouses on the global stage.
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The GCPP asked, has Ghana been able to implement another solution to the problems that confront our people socially, economically and politically?
It said that “In 2014, we still have problems with housing, sanitation, water, education, food and energy - which are necessary to support our industries.
The party believed that much remained to be done and the only solution to our problems is to implement the domestication concept, the statement added.
The statement recalled that President John Dramani Mahama, in the State of the Nation Address, stated that Ghana had to reverse the importation of US$1.5billion of goods that we can produce in Ghana, as well as change the structure of the economy from just consuming to producing.
“Citizens of Ghana, the time has come to break free of the past which divides us: it is time to put an end to the polarisation, the hatred and the bad-blood that exists amongst our people. In the midst of our growing democracy, we must become refined in our methods and remain committed to a path of reconciliation both politically and socially,” the GCPP stated.
It pointed out that in unity, Ghana can return hope and focus to the dream of the Black Star.
“It is truly time for us to come together as Ghanaians. Not just simply a day in honour of those who achieved great things in past generations. Not a one day of song and dance after which we return to our true common enemy which is poverty and underdevelopment,” it stressed.
According to the party, it was time for a sustainable economic, cultural and political empowerment that would last from one generation to another.