Reshaping Ghana’s destiny demands discipline – First Republic MP

A Member of Parliament (MP) in the First Republic, Madam Lucy Anin, has called for total attitudinal change and mindset among Ghanaians to reshape the country’s destiny and stimulate faster economic transformation.

“Independence [for Ghana] means, we are a new state not under somebody, you are independent, you can make your own decision, you don’t have to let someone decide for you,” she said.

Madam Lucy was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the 63rd Independence Day parade which was organized in Kumasi on the theme: “Consolidating our gains.”

The former lawmaker said reshaping Ghana’s destiny demanded hard work, discipline and commitment to build a robust local government system to engender rapid social and economic growth.

“Nowadays when you go to schools you ask them [school children], even about our own history they don’t know about it and yet they are learning history about other countries,” she said.

According to her, with a strong local government structure, the country could get rid of widespread filth that has engulfed many towns and cities as well as quicken local development.

She called for the review of the 1992 Constitution to enable relevant institutions deal decisively with corruption in the country as the indemnity clauses provided in the country’s constitution protected “looters” of the nation’s coffers.

“We need to change it [constitution] because the constitution with the indemnity clauses covered people who have looted this country,” she said.

Madam Lucy was among the first 10 women MPs from the then ten regions of Ghana to be sworn in in 1960.

She expressed worried that many state assets such GNTC stores, catering rest houses and then largest film studio in West Africa, TV3, known as studio B had been lost to private individuals.

“I’m saying that we need to change the indemnity clause in the 1992 constitution, how can you legalize coup,” she quizzed.

“If we don’t change the Constitution you can never put anybody before court for the pillage that is why I’m saying we can’t stop corruption because people are covered with indemnity clauses in our constitution.”

She also said Ghana was not moving forward as a nation because of its overly dependence on imported food items, lorry tyres and used garments among others, which were once produced in the country.

Ghana is Africa's second-biggest gold producer, after South Africa, and second-largest cocoa producer. It is also rich in diamonds, manganese ore, bauxite, and oil.

She said, “We are so blessed, and we should have been exporting a lot of farm products instead of importing. We can produce enough food, if we put our minds on it.”

The MP called for a deliberate national action to teach Ghanaians about patriotism, discipline and love for the country.