During NPP congress at Chicago in 2004, the former NPP Senior Minister, J H Mensah was reported to have said that: “Ghanaians in the Diaspora play politics on the internet whilst the Ghanaians at home play politics on the ground” He advised that the diasporas should be more generous to help politics at home.
Truly, I can bet you to my teeth that there are good writers out there on the internet. I have always been overwhelmed and impressed with the articles posted on the web site by such brothers like Boadi-Dankwa, Kwabena Mbra, Akosa Sarpong, Tawiah, Oyokoba, Price, Michael Bokor, and many others. Though their constructive and good writings are educationally informative and politically sincere yet one might be tempted to believe, like J H Mensah, that they don’t have the backing to be effective on the ground. Sadly some of the good writers have become so disillusioned that they don’t write any more. They are discouraged that in spite of their help in numerous writings the country has not gained much and has continued to be under-developed in some areas. However, I want to assure these concerned writers not to give up on noble ideas. If that were so ‘I have a Dream’ wouldn’t have been a reality. We have to learn from it.
The politics our Ghanaians at home play on the ground have not helped the nation. God has richly blessed us with immense natural resources; human, gold, diamond, bauxite, agricultural products including timber yet we are hungry and suffering to death point due to corruption. When the popular school feeding program was edited it was found to be tainted with corrupt practices and bloated with outrageous school number intake. The inefficiencies made the program cost prohibitive. But it was one such opportunity to have turned the heat of food problems on agriculture.
1. The popular Aveyime Rice Project could have been reviewed to give the farmers good rice equipments to improve the quality and the quantity. 2. The Akomadae tomato farmers should have been given the boost for intensive farming. 3. Corn production needed overhauling to affect greater output for Kenkey and kooko to feed the schools. 4. The Kufour cassava initiative should have been given a new phase for more ‘gari’ and ‘apalankye’ – (Fried cassava) to feed the schools. 5. And the production of beans and other vegetables to go with the gari would have been excellent. 6. There could have been numerous benefits not to mention cotton, yam and groundnuts –(peanuts) in the North.
The school feeding program should have been tied to the agricultural potentialities to offer more jobs to the teeming population, thus killing two birds with one stone. This didn’t happen and we continue to import rice at a whooping amount of $700 million per annum.
With his free elementary school uniform campaign promise, President Atta Mills is already adding to the economic mess. There we go again, fertile grounds for corrupt government contracts for party hacks as brother Mbra put it. The importation of textiles from China is a slap on our Akosombo and Tema textile companies. Even if the Akosombo and Tema garments are not competitive enough on the global market, the contract could have been a boost to revive the infant industries.
The MP’s have already smiled away with $50,000 questionable car loans, though they still have the option to buy government 2-yr old used cars at the book value. Housing and accommodation of public officials take a greater toll on the economy since there isn’t any efficient and effective policy in place. Archaic benefits to entice former colonial expatriates to accept jobs in Africa continue to be the portion of our public leaders. MP’s randomly increase their paychecks at will and the constitution is practically unprogressive as a living document. There are so many weaknesses in the constitution that it can’t stand the test of time. These are just some few issues to boggle the minds of concerned Ghanaians but neither the internet scholars nor the ground politicians have looked at them critically.
The question then is who brings these bothering issues to bear on the country?
Let me repeat, very unfortunately politics on the internet has not impacted practical politics on the ground. All the good and constructive suggestions have gone to the dogs, excuse my language. The leaders play Ghanaians against one another: You are Ashanti, you are Ewe, you are Ga, you are Northner, etc, etc as a way to divide us and rule. Some of them besides being morally corrupt have no ethical character of leadership to command the respect as leaders. There is no way Ghana can prosper with such crop of leadership. It is time for the internet educators to come together, regroup and join the ground forces by whatever means possible to deliver the country.
Now to our brothers and sisters in the diaspora everybody outside Ghana, the internet writers included, we have a stake in the development of Ghana. It is time to go to the grounds to do practical and effective politics to help lift up our country from the economic shadows of poverty. By our numerous constructive articles and our long experiences outside the country we have a lot to give. We have been able to diagnose the disease. We have to move fast to prescribe the medication and make sure that our patients take it. President Obama said in Ghana recently that no one will do it for us. We have to do it ourselves. The leaders who are supposed to do the sweeping changes will not voluntarily cut their self-given benefits by the constitution. It can only be done through well organized Pressure Group or Action Group. This is the challenge.
By the way when I raised the issue of diasporas re-grouping some time ago some one asked me to put my CV or Resume on the internet if I wanted to lead. I don’t disagree. I agree intoto with him. No impostor should be trusted. But that is not the issue. CV’s may help but they are not the answer. It is not all that glitters that are gold. And Shakespear said it even better: ‘a goodly apple rotten at the center’. We write our testimonials by our lifestyle, attitude, character, and how we generally carry ourselves. That was why the late Kwaku Yebo, a former Principal at Abetifi Training College, once said: ‘students write their own testimonials’ through the student-tutor rapport. I will suggest that you investigate my CV from those who know me personally and closely. Additionally I believe “the sweet of the pudding is in the eating”; eat with me. Our goal is to move Ghana Forward.
At this juncture I’m calling on all concerned Ghanaians especially those in the Washington Metropolis to consider re-grouping with me into a formidable force for the purpose of Ghana’s development. Martin Luther King did it. Nelson Mandella also did it. Though it seemed impeccable, we can do it too. I have thought about it for a very long time and I think now is the hour. All the strategies and the modalities have been put in place and all that is needed for the take-off is our resolve to meet and act upon them.
Please, I invite you to call if you may, so we can all work together as a team to move Ghana Forward. The suffering masses are waiting on us. Thank you.
“God bless mother Ghana”
Please, call the contact number with your questions: 703 441-6522. or Send an e-mail.
Ken Atta-Boakye, Woodbridge, Va ( attaboakye@yahoo.com ).
