“We forgot how and why Adjetey, Odartey- Lamptey and Atikpo had paid the supreme price. We forgot the toil and tears of Nii Kwabena Bonne, Paa Grant, Jacob Wilson Sey and Mensah –Sarbah” - The words of Samia Yaba Nkrumah, Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) , at the commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the overthrow of the CPP Government of the First Republic. The Party marked the occasion with a candle-light vigil at the Party’s Headquarters on the night of Sunday 23rd February 2014.
In a commemoration speech, she recounted the investment and development achievements of the CPP Government.
She pointed out that even though the achievements of the CPP are supreme and unmatched by any regime in the economic development history of the nation, the main purpose of the commemoration was not to recall with nostalgia the development achievements of the CPP Government but to reflect and understand why our country with so much promise and abundant natural development resources could be reduced to the current state of suffering and misery. And thereby “give direction to the development path of our nation towards the fulfillment of our vision and mission in history”.
The Chairman enumerated many reasons to explain the current state of hopelessness and despair in the country. In her words,
“We forgot that our economic and social progress was through the development of our manufacturing capacity that was based on the development of our national renewable and non-renewable resources.
“We forgot that the termination of external domination and control of our development resources was our path to growth and prosperity”
“We forgot that it was incumbent upon us to reject and reverse the economic relations that seek to preserve our economy as a market for foreign manufactured products and a source of raw material to support industrialisation in the developed economies".
“Our descent was the naïve presumption that with the achievement of national independence and political freedom, the opponents in our liberation struggle were going to abandon the heritage and responsibility bequeathed them by their fore-fathers who left them an inheritance of wealth through the control and domination our productive resources".
“Our descent was our failure to remember and uphold the philosophical foundations and justifications of our liberation struggle as the axioms of our economic development and external economic relation policies.”
The Chairman of the CPP pointed out that the independence of our country has turned out to be an “ironic tragedy” because the vanquished in our struggle for independence have plotted successfully to dominate and control our resources by our adoption and implementation of their recommended development policies of liberalisation stabilisation and privatisation in exchange for “development assistance”. She referred to the actions of our former colonial masters as a “Classical performance of the Akan proverb “Kwasi ko nso Kwasi te kwanta” and a presentation of a “Greek gift of a Trojan horse”
The Chairman further explained that the policies of stabilisation, privatisation and liberalisation propagated under the global development concept of globalisation are not objective scientific policies to address the challenges of under-development but subterfuges to control and dominate the development resources of post-colonial economies.
According to her they are “ideological re-alignment to preserve the status quo and have the same purpose of concealment of intent to control global resources as the civilising mission of colonialism”
She revealed that 30 years of implementation of these policies have “brought us nothing but suffering and misery” and that they are only implemented “by complicit and corrupt politicians who have run down their economies for personal gain and electoral victories including the payment of bribes to opposition politicians to betray the electoral and political aspirations of their parties and nation.”
The Chairman of the CPP concluded that the CPP in power “will review the trade liberalisation policy with the aim to develop the capacity of the indigenous private sector for competition in the global economy”
The Party will also “review the policy of inflation-targeting and fiscal austerity with the aim of promoting investments in industries that are founded on the productive resources of our country and have the potential to substitute imports, contribute to national food security, increase our export earnings and reduce our foreign exchange expenditure and trade deficit.
As we remember the unfortunate act of betrayal that turned back the clock of progress in a young but promising country, we pause to ask whether the ideals that served as “adrenalin” for our independence struggle have been realised.
The near social paralysis and sense of hopelessness, the descent to divisive politics of exclusion and economic retrogression and dependency, reveal the pyrrhic and ephemeral victory of political freedom we heralded at Old Polo Grounds at the dawn of 6th of March 1957.
Nii Armah Akomfrah
CPP Director of Communication
www.conventionpeoplesparty.org
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