‘Let’s build culture of consensus for national dev’

The Christian Council of Ghana has called on political parties to begin building consensus on national issues to deal with the numerous economic challenges confronting the nation.

The council said political parties ought to come together  and provide solutions to the economic challenges facing the country.

A press statement signed by the General Secretary of the Council,  Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong,  and issued to the press in connection with Ghana’s 57th Independence celebration stated that since winning political independence 57 years ago, Ghana had made great  efforts to develop the economy and scored many successes in that respect.

Sovereignty

According to the statement, Ghana is yet to attain socio-economic sovereignty despite its the numerous natural and human resources.

The statement noted that the nation was still struggling to achieve socio-economic independence because Ghanaians had politicised every national issue  and had refused to look beyond that attitude.

It explained that over the years, political parties that had come to power had sought to rule based on their political ideology and purpose.

That approach, the statement said, had eaten into the very fibre of  national life and had been one of the major banes of  the economic challenges confronting the country.

Responsibility

According to the statement, political leaders, especially those in government,  have the major responsibility of bringing everyone on board in building consensus to find the most viable solutions to the economic challenges.

“The Government must lead the way in crafting a culture of national consensus and patriotism among citizens, as well as ensuring that the interest of Ghana becomes paramount in national engagements,’’ the statement stressed.

The statement observed that the nation could not achieve economic sovereignty if Ghanaians continued  to conduct themselves in the same way they had been conducting themselves for the past 57 years and expect better results.

“Things must be done differently to achieve different results’’, the statement declared. 

According to the concluding part of the statement, Ghana is a sleeping economic giant with enormous resources available and the time has come to dream and develop a comprehensive vision for the country for 10 years and beyond, collectively as a people and not a political party or government.