Prof. Godfred Bokpin, Economist and Finance Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School has averred that Ghana’s 66th independence shows the country has made some progress, however, indicated that Ghana could have done better.
According to the economist, today for Ghana, should be a time of deep reflection to identify the pitfalls and moments of great achievements over the years, adding that the whole talk about Ghana’s independence could be a lie as the status of the country communicates otherwise. Speaking about what he thought about the anniversary celebrations, he said;
“It’s a day worth thinking through. 66 years of independence; I think we have come a long way, holding ourselves together in one way or the other. We’ve made some progress but of course we could have done far better. So I think what the day should do for us is for us to have a deep reflection of what the major misses are, what the major heaps have been.
“But if you should examine Ghana’s economic trajectory, since independence, you don’t actually get the impression that we have attained independence. We must have been lying to ourselves all this while. Whatever we sort to gain from independence in 1957, in terms of having control over our economy, and the direction of our economy and all of that, we have not gained that. We have not achieved that.”
Prof. Bokpin
The economist noted that since independence, and since Ghana officially joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 20th, 1967, Ghana has spent quality time out of its 66 years under the direction, guidance, supervision of the West, especially, the colonial masters, who through the Bretton Woods institution, have actually gained a foothold on the Ghanaian economy.
Ghana has spent more years seeking economic leadership, direction and credibility from the IMF than it has spent economically leading itself, Prof. Bokpin bemoaned.
“So we should really think about what we call independence. Maybe in terms of political independence fine, and all of that but really, I want to believe that our forefathers who laid down their lives, and fought for independence for us, if they were alive today, and they look at the economic fundamentals, social cohesion and all of that, I’m sure they will come to the conclusion that we have deviated from that aspiration.
“Of course, some of us were not around but reading the literature, watching some of the videos, and all of that, you could see that quotes were very high and all of that but we have not been able to sustain that. We have not been able to turn these good intensions and aspirations into actual and sustainable development…”
Prof. Bokpin
Ghana urged to rise above just celebrating independence day to celebrating its achievements
In his opinion, Prof. Bokpin suggested that it is not just enough to merely celebrate independence day but also have a clear timeline and target, which should guide Ghana’s next independence day celebration, even more importantly, the 67th celebration.
“We should look forward to Ghana gaining independence from corruption, gaining independence from nepotism, gaining independence from low productivity. We must have these targets; something that we look forward to celebrating next year, next two years, next three years.
“So that merely having twelve months part II, is not enough to spend millions of cedis to celebrate it. We have financial challenges, which we should have a clear understanding and a target to achieve. If we cannot as Ghanaians, win independence from corruption, its not worth celebrating anything anymore.”
Prof. Bokpin
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