We need a gold refinery in the country - Kwesi Pratt

Mr Kwesi Pratt, Editor of the Insight newspaper, has said there was the need for government to establish a gold refinery in the country and help create more jobs for the entire society.

“To ensure better development of the country, it is important to think of how to engage in active production of the things that we need and the things on which we have the capacity to produce” Mr Pratt Jnr noted.

He was speaking at a public lecture on the relevance of Nkrumaism, origin, today and the future in Accra.

Mr Pratt said Nkrumaism originated from the history of mankind and was built on the history of knowledge, stressing that, Nkrumah believed in African socialism.

He said Nkrumaism was relevant because it was concerned about the inequalities in the society and was much committed to building a new society on the foundation of social justice for all.

Mr Pratt said Nkrumah’s timely intervention was an important watershed in the global anti-imperialist struggle for the following reasons: firstly, it introduced a new dimension to Africa’s struggle against foreign domination since the pre-­colonial struggle and it opened the flood gates to decolonization of the rest of colonial Africa.

Mr Pratt said Nkrumah made Africans believe that the black man is capable of managing its own affairs, thus empowering Africans with the zeal to manage its resources adding that the ideology of Nkrumah was to build a better society for the less privileged.

“The achievement of Dr Nkrumah was based on the products of ideas and if government fails to address the problem of different standards in rural and urban education, then we have not democratized education” he added.

Mr Pratt said we cannot talk of capitation grants, free textbooks and school feeding programme if we fail to address electricity problem in the rural areas, and that, having access to television would broaden their horizon on news happening in the country.

He said there was the need for government to fight against illiteracy especially in the rural areas, since when people are able to read and write, it helps in enjoying the right of freedom of speech.

Mr Pratt advised politicians to be weary of their utterances and that freedom of speech must be put in its proper context, stressing that some of the radio station comments are characterized by insults and hate speech which mar the beauty of democracy.

He said you cannot be an Nkrumaist if you don’t believe in the vision ideology and the principles of Nkrumah and urged all to stand together and demonstrate such resilience.

Mr Prat noted that it is important to focus on the essential issues of how to end poverty and to introduce workable alternatives in improving education, healthcare and improved housing.**