Ghana needs a one-term leader - Prof. Omane-Antwi

Ghana’s inability to implement long-term development plans is as a result of the lack of leadership over the years, Professor Boasiako Omane-Antwi, Vice Rector and Dean of the Graduate School of the Pentecost University, has said.

He noted that Ghana is yet to get selfless leaders whose focus is not on re-election but on doing something positive for the country regardless of the political consequences.

“The problem we have is that we don’t have leaders, I’m sorry to say this. Ghana is yet to find one, I hope we get one,” he told Moro Awudu on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Tuesday, 7 March.

He noted that a leader should be a “servant leader”, adding: “He has come to serve, so, no matter what, even if it’s four years or one term, that is not a factor. All that he needs to do is to be focused and achieve one thing for the country that we all can remember him for – education, health, agriculture.”

According to Professor Omane-Antwi, who is also a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a servant leader should be able to say: “So for me, for my four years, I’m going to put education at another level. After four years, if I’m not voted for, that’s fine with me, I’ve done my bit.”

“But the moment you are there and you are contemplating your second term, you will get it wrong. So we need that servant leader who has come to serve and he/she will be able to do that little bit for that particular period and he can say that ‘yes, for four years I did this for the country’. So it is a leadership challenge that we have in the country and that is what we need to address,” he said when he spoke on the THINKING AHEAD series – a platform created by ACCA and ClassFM – on the topic: ABCD of National Development: Revisiting 1684 Nine-Point Development Agenda for German Colonies.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get an authentic leader who comes in and says that: ‘For me, I’m here to develop this country regardless of the [political consequences]. After the first term if the people want me to continue fine, if not, so be it.’”