Kume Preko march - 11 May 1995

The standard of living of Ghanaians has been falling over the last 13 years or so as a result of implementation of policies which have limited the people's access to social services, exacerbated the unemployment problem, hiked up prices and adversely affected the business climate.

Today, many able-bodied and hard working Ghanaians cannot afford one decent meal a day for a family and the drop-out rate in our educational institutions is said to be rising at a very alarming rate.

A couple of months ago, about 50 children suffering from yaws were turned away from a govt hospital in the Sekondi- Takoradi area because, their guardians could not afford the hospital fee of 500 cedis each.

Perhaps the most gruesome of policy measures which have worsened the plight of the people of Ghana to unprecedented depths has been the Value Added Tax (VAT). According to Dr Kwesi Botchwey, Minister for Fiance of the Rawlings regime, the introduction of VAT has led to price hikes of between 300 and 400 per cent (see daily Graphic of 20 April 1995).

As part of the effort to draw attention to the sorry plight of the Ghanaian and to stimulate discussion on ways of resolving the multi-dimensional problems of the people, a peaceful demonstration will take place in Accra on 11 May 1995. The demonstration will begin from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle at 10 am, march on through the principal streets of the city and end at the Kinbu area with a rally.

The organizers of the demonstration, the Alliance for Change, are a group of responsible citizens drawn from the political parties and mass and social organisations in the country committed to improving the quality of life for all Ghanaians.

All Ghanaians are invited to participate in this historic event which is intended to contribute to the efforts being made to resolve the very urgent social and economic problems facing our country today.