GH@61: Using 'Ghana Beyond Aid' as theme very sad - Kwame Jantuah

Energy expert and Vice Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee Kwame Jantuah has labeled as “sad” the ”Ghana beyond aid’ theme chosen by government for the 61st Independence Day celebration.

“The theme, Ghana Beyond Aid is a sad theme because we should have been here way back and not today…it looks as if we’re starting from where we should have already been,” he told host Kafui Dey on GHToday.

Mr. Jantuah however urged President Akufo-Addo to gather courage and tell the IMF to leave Ghana because the country is capable of managing its own affairs.

“The process and the things that the IMF have decided to helped us on, have they worked? All these aid the IMF are supposed to have given us, have they worked?..If President Akufo-Addo has been able to tell Macron; and in telling Macron, you’re telling the West in their face that we have to do it on our own, it’s time he told the IMF to pack out and leave this country..we can do it”.

Meanwhile, the President has stated that the ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ mantra is not just a slogan but meant to propel us into the frame of mind that would quicken our pace of development.

The President delivering a speech during the 61st Independence Day Celebrations at the Black Star Square, Tuesday, stated that Ghana is not a poor country but a country blessed with immense natural resources adding that Ghanaians must be selfless and take advantage of the country’s natural resources to help transform the economy.

According to him, a ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ will not be achieved by merely talking but with the right attitudes and commitment from citizens, doing the right things and the willingness from all to see the country prosper and develop.

“My fellow Ghanaians, ours is a country that is well endowed with many natural resources such as gold, bauxite, diamonds, oil, timber, cocoa, water, fertile land etc. The truth, however, is that the state of our nation does not bear out that we have these natural endowments. Poverty continues to be our lot. We have huge infrastructural deficits.