Toronto, Ontario “ Canada…..Ghana@60 Declaration¦Town Hall in Toronto with Hon Kennedy Agyapong and Chairman Wontumi
The Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) and the Ghana Consulate in
Toronto organized a series of events from 4th to 19th of March, this year to mark the
diamond jubilee of Ghana's Independence. The theme for all the events was
"Community Development" both in Canada and in Ghana. To climax the events, we
invited Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, Ashanti
Regional Chairman of NPP and Honorable Kennedy Agyapong who is the Member of
Parliament for Assin North in the Central Region of Ghana to grace the occasion with
with their presence. For the great work being done by these two leaders in the
transformation of our country, we gave them awards to further their cause to fight
corruption and their unflinching efforts to help the vulnerable in our
homeland,Ghana.
As planned, we had a dinner dance and awards night on March 18th, 2017. On Sunday,
March 19th 2017 we held a Town Hall dubbed Ghana@60 – Toronto Declaration at the
Apostles Continuation Church in Toronto. The Town Hall was structured to allow our
honorable guests, Mr. Wontumi and Honorable Agyepong to provide the community with
updates on what is happening in our homeland Ghana from socio-political to economic
standpoints.
In a spirit of candour, lively and unscripted presentation, the two leaders provided
the community updates on issues ranging from budget, corruption, business climate,
physical development to political climate in Ghana.
We have summarized the issues, suggestions and recommendations from the Town Hall for
attention:
1. Ghanaians in Toronto would like Ghanaians in abroad to have the right to vote.
Essentially we would like the ROPAL bill to be passed and implemented before the next
elections in Ghana.
2. We would like the government to streamline processes and policies for business
friendly Ghana. Thus, encouraging Ghanaians in Diaspora to bring businesses to our
motherland.
3. Members of the community would recommend measures instituted to fight corruption
by ensuring that state funds embezzled are refunded rather than just sending people
to jail. Refund and pay appropriate penalty as deterrent to people who have access to
public funds. Thus, the penalty for embezzling state funds should be unpleasant for
anyone to attempt to embezzle public funds.
4. Structured and proactive governance measures need be put in place for corruption
not to fester. A strict code of conduct need to put in place in all government and
public institutions
5. We recommend a strong sanitation policy to rid the country of dirt and slums.
Tourism does not thrive where there is open defecation and unsanitary conditions.
Infections from unsanitary environments have cost implications to the already
burdened health care. Ghana has the potential to reap billions of dollars from
tourism, which is the leading industry in the world, now if we take good care of our
beaches and environment
6. The national identification exercise is in the right direction. All Ghanaians need
to have ids and linked with their drivers’ licences.
7. Country’s data need to be digitized for analytics and fraud prevention. A strong
digitized economy will spur development and tourism.
8. Duties on automobile need to be reviewed as age should not be the only
consideration. Cars operating in developed countries where emissions test are done
regularly have sound and efficient old cars
9. The country needs to create an environment for volunteerism to allow skilled
Ghanaian youth in abroad to come in and volunteer their time, talents and skills to
help in our national development.
10. On the environment, the community is really concerned about the unprecedented
pollution of our water and our forests and lands through illegal mining operations.
We are concerned about the water pollution since our country is facing the risk of
being deprived of clean drinking water
11. We are concerned about the number of accidents on our country’s roads claiming
the lives of many people. We need to enhance our road safety measures and provide
more vehicles for road patrols and provide spot fines for automobile prone to
accidents and ensure drivers obey traffic rules.
We understand that implementing all these items require funding and expertise, but
there are some common sense approach to addressing some of these items without huge
cost. Ghanaians in abroad are very patriotic and want the best for Ghana, our dearest
homeland and we are ready to lend our helping hands in this transformation. We
understand, there have been modest development thus far but we could do much better.
We can attest to the fact that our Minds are here but our Hearts are in Ghana.
While these items are not new, these are reinforcements from our community here in
Toronto to get the attention of President Nana Akufo Addo Addo Danquah and his
government.
Thus far, we are encouraged by the policies being pursued by the government and the
recent budget statements. God Bless!
