Join the national crusaders.
( for political and Economic Reforms)
(NACPER)
What has Independence and Republic done for the people of Ghana? NOT THAT MUCH, AFTER FIFTY SIX YEAES OF NATIONHOOD.
Fifty six years ago in 1957, Independent Ghana was born. In 1960, Ghana emerged from years of colonial rule, as a sovereign Nation, A republic, with the fanfare and hopes for total transformation for the benefit of all.
Ghana is far behind some third world countries that attained political independence within the same period , even though we were then economically better placed.
Ghana is
a. A country endowed with tremendous natural resources. We should not be poor.
b. A country blessed with arable lands for food crop cultivation. We should never be hungry.
c. A country blessed with talented human potentials which is the best tool we need for our technological and industrial development .We just need to cultivate the can do spirit.
d. A country with a manageable population of about twenty five million. With the level of our education, We must be able to manage our resources to establish a functional society that generations shall be proud to inherit.
Fellow Ghanaians, Corruption, greed and selfishness have permeated into our body politics and now become a national culture. This is the result of inherited exploitative political system from the colonial era . The relationship between government and the people has therefore broken down, With mediocre leadership characterized by lack of credibility and creativity.
Individual politicians have neither shown respect for the law nor respect for the people of Ghana. Their sole motivation has and continues to be personal survival and acquisition of wealth , which is not earned through individual contribution to the Gross National Product. This situation should not and cannot be allowed to continue if we desire to bequeath a better and well organized political structures and a vibrant economy for generations to inherit.
OUR VISION. Our vision, is to see to the eradication of poverty, disease hunger and ignorance from our society.
MISSION STATEMENT.
The mission of the national crusaders for, political and Economic Reforms is to help educate Ghanaians on their civic rights and responsibilities within the constitution of the republic of Ghana. We will also empower them to exercise those rights under the principle that states clearly that all powers of Government springs up from the sovereign will of the people.
GOALS :
1. To work collectively with all citizens and friends of Ghana, both at home and in the Diaspora, with a dream that someday, all Ghanaians shall be offered opportunities base on the content of their brains and not by which Political party they belong.
2. To help bring about reforms, that will eliminate corruption and establish a more friendly atmosphere for capital investment.
3. We believe that, the awareness level of the illiterate majority will be raised through our educational crusade, to make informed decisions on matters affecting their lives, and as a result, turn around decades of hopelessness into opportunities.
STRATEGY.
Non-political and not for profit, the Crusade will educate the people of Ghana on the need for political and economic reforms.
We will use our organization as a platform to correct a lot of the anomalies in our Socio-economic and Political systems pertaining to policies, ordinance and all decision that impacts on the citizen’s lives.
Membership shall therefore be open to people of all political persuasions.
We hope that through our crusade, political leaders will see the need to reform and establish at least, basic human survival needs and opportunities for all our people.
Additionally, we will use our organization to showcase how Africa, particularly Ghana, can transform from the third world to the first world within a decade.
INDEPENDENT GHANA.
Independent Ghana was achieved through the scarifies of our founding fathers. 1) With the hope and aspirations, that we would firmly establish our African personality, and identity. 2) That we would be able to control and manage our own destiny, and establish societies with enormous opportunities for all. Unfortunately, we are fifty six years and still govern this dear Nation, under the same colonial mind set of exploitation of man by man. Unfortunately, in a worse form than what the colonial master did to us under colonization.
We have not been lucky to have the kind of selfless and responsible leadership for the most part of our Nationhood. We have therefore resulted in reckless borrowing for our budgetary allocations.
We must consider such a system the highest crime against the people of Ghana, and make it punishable under our constitution.
We must understand that the objective of the colonial master in the Gold Coast, was to exploit everything they can get from us. They succeeded in exploiting our Natural resources and ultimately exploited our human resources into the obnoxious slave trade. They had every excuse then, to do whatever they did to us, because of our geographical position. That is not to say that they were morally right, but that we were then far away from civilization.
POLITICAL REFORM.
The political system established by the colonial master, was to favor the era, against the economic interest of the then Gold Coast. Everything was designed to exploit the Country, in favor of the colonialist. True political Reform in the view of the Crusaders must start with the review of the 1992 constitution, which was drawn for a particular class of people and to serve their interest only.
The complexity of the problems Ghana faces politically as a Nation, is like the sack and hanger problem. One thousand pieces of cloth hangers could easily fit into a small sack when neatly arranged. However have them all tangled up, and you could barely fit hundred hangers in the same sack.
As a major part for real political reform, we must as a people, understand the complexity of our multi- ethnic and tribal values, our African personality and identity.
Even though it enlarges our family connections, relationships, and the growth of societies, it is also the major cause for ethnic and tribal wars on the continent of Africa.
This is due to the injustices and unfair distribution of the National cake by those who win political power, and center the control of power on ethnic and tribal considerations.
The system where the winner always takes all, should be reformed by a constitutional provision, mandating that political appointments are considered base on absolute regional balance, irrespective of whether or not a particular region or tribe, voted for or against the party in power. Laws in a statutory book that are not applied, are no laws. The development of the country is the responsibility of the President, and he must be fair. It does not matter which tribe or ethnic group he belongs. The president in contravention of such constitutional demand shall have to be impeached and removed from office.
DEEMOCRACY.
Undoubtedly, democracy is the best form of governance through which meaningful development can be advanced, provided there is freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of religion, and above all, the sustenance of our African personality and identity, recognizing that we are all one people irrespective of ethnicity and tribes. In any event, all the rhetoric about democracy will be meaningless, unless it is linked up with the total economic independence of the people of Ghana.
To establish a functional political system under democratic institutions, we must limit the powers of the Executive, and establish independent oversight institutions that will act as checks and balances on corruption and all forms of Political interference in the administration of freedom and justice in a decentralized political system.
Fellow Ghanaians, the current challenges facing Ghana must be prioritized in an order that recognizes the human hierarchy of needs. Resources must first be committed to solve those that are classified as human survival needs, instead of attempting to solve all the challenges at the same time.
It is the view of the crusaders, that a country with misplaced priorities drives with no direction, and tends to do everything at the same time and gets nothing well done. As humans meet basic needs, they seek to satisfy successfully higher needs that occupy a set hierarchy of needs. The priority needs shall therefore have to be categorized under a National development plan.
Successive political administrations shall have to be constitutionally mandated to follow through from where the out-going administration left off, instead of administrating the Nation with Political Party Manifestos. Ghana’s political direction has been driven for far too long dictated by colonial legacies, compromising our national development with Political and Civil service corruption, greed and cronyism.
ECONOMIC REFORMS.
Countrymen and Women, what we should have done after attaining political independence, was to change the exploitative systems established by the colonial master to exploit our wealth. However, our post-independent leaders immediately saw no wisdom in such reforms, Successive leaders have also continued with the exploitative system to the disadvantage of the growth of the National economy.
The National economy has been sluggish because, over 80% of the population do not pay taxes, either unemployed or petty trading. The National economy only survives on borrowed foreign loans. We have never in our history balanced our budget, and that situation should not be allowed to continue for any longer.
THE WEALTH OF THE NATION.
The wealth of the nation has been in the hands of a few selfish and greedy individuals, who can at best be classified as our black colonial masters. They do not care about the development of the country for the benefit of all. Rather, they have successfully created artificial poverty on the people, in order to influence their conscience at elections with their ill-gotten wealth.
Ghana is a small Nation blessed with enormous natural resources and manageable population of about twenty five 25million people. There is therefore no reason why we have not as a Nation been able to manage our resources to create opportunities for all. It is simply unacceptable.
Facts are that, a) the wealthy but greedy individuals, are afraid to invest their ill-gotten wealth in the Country. They rather choose to invest and hide their wealth in foreign banks so they can run away, in case there is any form of political intervention.
b) Meanwhile, there is this foolish notion that it is not the business of Government to establish businesses and create jobs.
c) Those who have genuinely acquired their wealth, are also afraid to invest in any capital intensive manufacturing businesses that will create large scale employment because of the bitter experiences of the like of B.A Mensah of the erstwhile International Tobacco, Siaw of Tata Brewery.{ May their souls rest in peace}, and many others who had their businesses confiscated under the Rawlings Military revolution. This dilemma has created major unemployment problems within the economy. Generations of youth have resulted in selling every conceivable items on the streets for subsistence. The productive talent of Generations of able body young men and women have been destroyed, Child Labor has occupied the streets of major cities and towns and has over the years increase the illiteracy rate in the country.
In order to salvage and revamp the National economy from total collapse, there is the need to re-energize the Ghanaian sprit of entrepreneurship. Again there is the need to offer direct financial assistance and tax incentives to indigenous entrepreneurs.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND BUDGETING.
In order to reverse the economic fortunes and develop Ghana in a faster pace, we must instill discipline into our financial and economic management.
We must take stock of all our incomes and budget within the income. We must desist from irresponsible habit of deficit spending and cultivate the habit of saving for our economic growth and freedoms.
The colonial economic policies that established free-free incentive packages for being posted to serve in the Gold Coast must be discontinued in our system.
Salaries of all Ghanaian work-force, from the president to the laborer, must be determined base on our National income, by one National salary commission. The system where government officials Ministers and Parliamentarians are paid through the consolidated fund, article 71 of the 1992 constitutions must be changed. It is a system of exploitation of MAN BY MAN.
All expenses of central Government must be critically reviewed and all that are viewed as waste and drain to our economic growth, must be trashed.
We must only seek for loans for specific projects, and establish national, regional, and district monitoring teams to make sure such loans only go to complete such specific projects according to specifications. The people of Ghana must at every quarter be educated on the totals of all national incomes, and expenditures. That system will establish the people’s trust, on transparency and accountability in the functions of Government
Fellow Ghanaians, the problems of Ghana are herculean, but they are nothing to be considered insurmountable. The future of this dear Country belongs to the youth, who have been denied the golden knowledge of (service to society is service to God and mankind).
The National crusaders for Political and Economic reform would like to advice the educated youth of the country, that the challenge to reform Ghana, Politically and economically, is a challenge of theirs.
They should wholeheartedly embrace and see service to Ghana as a duty and responsibility of theirs. It is a challenge for their future and generations to come. Instead of using their intellectual capabilities to cripple society, the educated must use their intellectual brains to develop society, for the benefit of the unfortunate majority, who produce the wealth of the Nation for their education. This is a National duty call.
Ladies and gentlemen, corruption, greed, selfishness and other social vices have eroded the moral fiber of our country, and indiscipline in all spheres of endeavor, has become a National canker as a result. The situation has to be reversed and fixed to create and establish a reliable Political system and a buoyant economy that will offer opportunities for all generations of this country to inherit.
It is to this objective, that we launch this National crusade for Political and Economic reforms. We therefore call on all well meaning Ghanaians to join the crusade. Hon. Martin Amidu has shown that it can be done .
The National inspirational anthem composed by one of Ghana’s illustrious sons Dr. Ephriam Amo reads that “This Country belongs to us. (Yen ara yasaase ni). Whether it will be well or not depends on the selflessness and integrity of its people”. Ladies and Gentlemen, let us be guided by this inspirational anthem, and join the crusade for political and economic reforms. We have no other home than Ghana. We must act now, before it gets out of control. God bless you all..
Those who would want to lead the Crusade from the regions and the constituencies, should kindly register with The Executive Chairman . MR Ofori Ampofo, Tel. 0247-404050 . Email, ampofoofori@yahoo.com and please, forward this to as many friends as you can.
