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Papayaw Asare 2011 Page 1
THE DAY AFTER INDEPENDENCE: MY HOPES FOR GHANA
Yes, fifty four years of nationhood, thus how far we have come.
In six years, Ghana would be six
decades old. The 6th March anniversary parade at the
independence square which climaxes the
celebrations have become an annual ritual. Indeed, this must be
the time for reflections, stock
taking and a projection into the future. The parade is a unique
and nostalgic experience, having
participated in the 46th independence anniversary as a high
school student; the icing on the cake
was when we (the first police cadet corps in Africa and second
in the world of St. Thomas
Aquinas) emerged tops in the match past. Should it all be pumped
and pageantry interspersed
with grandiose plans contained in presidential addresses? This
essay seeks to propose the day
after our independence; projecting into the future of a Ghana @
60 and beyond.
We should ask ourselves as a people how well we know our
history, identity and culture. The
institution of a day to commemorate our founders or founders on
September 21(the birthday of
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, 1909-1971) each year resulted in
sharp debates about the s
before the apostrophe or the apostrophe after the s. This
development is yet another indicator
of polarization in our country.
Fifty four years of independence and what do we see, illiteracy,
poverty, child and maternal
mortality, politics of monecracy and invectives, mediocrity, low
self-esteem, strikes, youth
unemployment and the list goes on and on. Indeed all political
manifestoes, campaigns and
debates have featured the various parties promising to solve one
problem or the other. Yet they
are still with us. It is not that success and achievement have
not been chalked; expansion of
education, health and infrastructure are worth citing. We have
not done well in the light of the
much talked about, cited comparison with Malaysia, South Korea
and the rest of the Asian tigers.
Some questions arise. Do we know and fully appreciate our
problems, do we know what to do
solve our solve them, what action plans have we put in place to
propel us into a better state, have
we identified the required human resources, the requisite
scientific, technology and research
inputs? Do we?
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The day after 6th March , my 6 golden hopes for Ghana are:
1. That we would be able to ensure a sustainable provision of
food, water and shelter forour people.
2. That we would gain economic independence by breathing life
into Nkrumahs edifyingquote The black man is capable of managing
his own affairs on the eve of
independence evidenced in our ability to fully finance our
budget. Thus departing from
the current 60% donor budget support which we have a dire
dependence on.
3. That the physically challenged, women, children and
especially the youth would beheard not only seen.
4. That we would pay a great tribute to Osagyefo by leading the
continent once again to agrand union after been the first
sub-Saharan country to gain independence.
5. That we shall continue to be a beacon of peace and democracy
on the continent andbeyond.
6. That we would eradicate poverty, disease and ignorance.
P.S
Signing the Socio-economic Performance contract;
"We shall measure our progress by the improvement in the health
of our people; by the number of
children in school, and by the quality of their education; by
the availability of water and electricity
in our towns and villages, and by the happiness which our people
take in being able to manage their
own affairs. The welfare of our people is our chief pride, and
it is by this that my Government will
ask to be judged." ~ NKRUMAH.
Papayaw Asare
E-mail:[email protected] 7, 2011
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
