The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant in England and Wales, Mr. Kenneth Kwamina Thompson, has intimated that according to the Ghana Statistical Service, there will be a massive increase in Ghana’s population.
Speaking on PM express on Friday 18th September 2020, Mr. Thompson stated that fast track to 2050, Ghana’s population will increase by 20 million which will be a big blow to the economy by the time.
“Did you know that, by 2050, there will be 50 million Ghanaians? By 2050, according to Ghana Statistical Service, there will be 50 million Ghanaians and approximately 40 percent will be under 50 years old. What will they eat? Where will they sleep? By then, the oil and gold will be gone. Where are the jobs? Sometimes I think that I speak with the arrogance of the righteous.”
The Business Man of the year 2016, iterated that his life is pledged to speaking the truth even if, the truth sounds unpleasing to the ear.
Without mincing words, he stated that some personalities are accorded undeserving respect in the society, something he stated as absurd.
“There are so many praise singers in the country because unfortunately, we run the patronage system. Patronage system means that, somebody dispenses favors according to whether they like you or not. We have also ended up in a society where, thieves; people that steal are portrayed as successful entrepreneurs and they become church elders, they have private pastors. The things I talk about, are the truth. I am not going to speak about praise.”
However, the outspoken CEO revealed that, he was no stranger to glossophobia at the time he begun to voice out his opinion on issues pertaining to Ghana.
Buttressing his claim, he recounted the first day he was given a podium to speak on critical issues.
“Sometimes, people assume that it is easy for me to come out and speak; It is not that easy. I have to dig deep. I remember the first presentation I made, was on the Ghana Cedi. I was saying that, we were addicted to foreign goods and services like an acholic who is addicted to ‘apio’ and because of that, created a huge demand for dollars and that was some of the reasons why the cedi was always under pressure. At that time, I told them the cedi was going to hit 6 cedi to a dollar. As part of the presentation, I was supposed to drink a bottle of vodka. Aisha, I was shaking so much that, the bottle fell down and broke. So, it is not easy; somebody has to speak up.”
Still touching on his past, Mr. Thompson chronicled what propelled him to be outspoken, “there was something that happened quite early in my career, that made me resolve that I was going to speak up. I was a young person working in an accounting firm and was sent to do something in a village, it was a factory producing umbrellas; you know the factory had been passed on from generation to generation.
The partner was scared of the owner. As I was doing my work, I realized that a lot of money was being put into courier services and I said, why are they putting so much money into courier service? As I did some more work, I found out that, it was actually a man who was taking the money and putting it in his pocket. But Aisha, I was scared and trust me when he was eventually found out about the things that happened, I spoke up,” he said.
According to Mr. Kenneth Kwamina Thompson, his forthright personality was inherited from his mother who was known as a “no nonsense woman”. He stated that, though his unreserved character was inherent, he had to learn to groom it.
He advised the youth to be outspoken, work towards providing value in society and not to concentrate their energy on trying to become rich overnight.
