I nearly committed suicide – Nunoo-Mensah

Former National Security Advisor Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (rtd) has revealed he nearly committed suicide two years ago, upon learning that Ghana's parliament had imported furniture from China to furnish the legislature.

"Was it last year or last two years, when our parliament imported furniture from China? I nearly committed suicide.

"If you can't produce furniture here in Ghana after almost 60 years of independence, then what's the meaning of independence?" General Nunoo-Mensah wondered in an interview on Accra-based Class FM.

Following several criticisms of the House after the importation of 300 pieces of furniture, the legislature put up a strong defence saying it could not find any local firm with the capacity to deliver that quantity of furniture.

General Nunoo-Mensah, however, said incidents of the sort bring to question the relevance of Ghana's independence.

Speaking about Ghana's 59th independence celebration and its relevance, the former military officer bemoaned that except for the human beings who paraded their skills at the Independence Square to mark the anniversary of nationhood, everything else that was put on display was imported, adding he was greatly saddened by that reality.

"Yesterday I was at the Independence Square witnessing the celebration of 59 years of independence …and when I looked at the parade, for example, all the equipment on parade – apart from the human beings who were there – everything else…, was imported. Everything: the guns, the cars, everything, even the uniforms that the men [security services] were wearing were imported, except the human beings and that saddened me a great deal," General Nunoo-Mensah complained.

In his view, it was sad that Ghana, after almost 60 years of nationhood, is unable to produce many things locally, a situation he said was regrettable.