Ghanaians have short vision – Yankah

A former Minister of State Prof. Kojo Yankah has criticized the Ghanaian obsession for elections moments after a government comes to power.

He said governments need time to execute their vision and must not be stampeded with upcoming elections when they are yet to settle.

“Sometimes I get worried about Ghana,” Prof Yankah told Kwaku Sakyi-Addo on the award-winning show The Lounge.

He added: “We have just elected a government and then we start talking 2020. It shows how short our vision is. Listen; we have so much to do. Any government has to build on what the previous government did and in the first year, it’s not even the end of one year and we’ve started talking 2020 so what are we doing as a nation? All that we are looking forward to is our elections. I’m sorry but I am totally against it.”

“I probably think the media is even over hyping it but we should think about development. This nation must move. This nation must develop and as I keep saying, we must develop alongside other African countries; we should be moving together,” the former MP noted.

He stressed: “We are talking about digitization as if the whole country is digital. We have about 70% of people in rural areas who cannot even find their way around a computer. These are issues that bother me. How do we get them out of it? How do we bring them into the digital age? How do we bring them into modernity?

“So when I hear about 2020, I get bored I must say; I really get bored. I think we should reorient ourselves and find solutions now.

“It doesn’t matter but when it gets to your turn in 2020 and whatever you want to do, you can but let’s build a nation; let’s continue to build on what was left and let others come and add on.”

Prof. Yankah stated he is “not interested in active politics” but will always be on hand to provide advise “here and there in the service of the nation”.

The Lounge with Kwaku Sakyi-Addo airs live on Starr FM every Friday from 7pm to 8pm and on GHOne TV on Sundays from 8pm to 9pm.