Cut down resources spent on Independence day — 3 Political parties

Three political parties and one independent presidential candidate have called on the government to cut down on resources spent to celebrate the country’s Independence Day and rather channel the money into addressing economic issues that affect the livelihood of the citizens.

The parties — the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and an Independent presidential candidate in the 2016 election, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah — also stressed the need for the leadership of the country to use technology as the tool to reach the height of the developed nations.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic ahead of the country’s 62nd Independence Day celebration, the three political parties and the independent presidential candidate said although Ghana had come a long way since independence, little had been achieved in the area of economic gain.

Ghana will be 62 years today after the country gained independence from British colonial rule on March 6, 1957.

There will be a national ceremony in Tamale in the Northern Region to celebrate the day. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to address the nation at the event ground.

PPP

Reacting on Ghana’s achievements since independence, the National Secretary of the PPP, Mr Murtala Mohammed, said much had not been done, especially, in the area of the fight against corruption and education.

He said instead of the government channelling more resources into the celebration of the independence, it should rather commemorate the Independence Day and put those resources into addressing the development challenges derailing the country’s quest to attain its development goals.

“The government should make sure that every child benefit from free education not only at the senior high school level but from the Kindergarten. This should be one of the major priorities as we commemorate our Independence Day,” Mr Mohammed said.

GCPP

On the country’s economy, the Chairman and leader of GCPP, Dr Henry Herbert Lartey, stressed the need for the government to turn its attention to the economic issues affecting the livelihood of the citizens.

He mentioned unemployment and high importation of goods as major issues that ought to be dealt with immediately by the government since it continued to slow down Ghana’s growth.

“As country, our focus right now must be exporting more products to generate more revenue in addressing the pressure on our currency. That is why I am happy the government is taking the Planting for Food and Jobs more seriously,” Dr Lartey said.

NDP

Touching on technology, the General Secretary of the NDP, Mr Mohammed Frimpong, said one of the reasons why the country was lagging behind had to do with the inability to use technology to address our development challenges.

He said although Ghana used to encounter the same development challenges, the Asian countries faced some years back, the country was not able to apply technology to climb the development ladder compared to their counterparts.

“We need to learn from these countries and also find better ways of improving the country’s use of technology to enjoy the benefits most developed nations are currently enjoying,” Mr Frimpong said.

JOY

Mr Osei Yeboah, said Ghana, after independence, had not yet experienced the liberty that civilised nations boast about, saying that the country had only gained its political independence but not economic independence.

He said Ghana needed more economic freedom to support the people since most of the challenges confronting the nation centered on growth and job creation.

Mr Yeboah said it was unfair that after all these years, the country continued to encounter simple economic issues that hampered growth and development, adding that “Ghana’s economic fundamentals must be strong to support businesses to expand”.