`Let Ghana be your priority`- Zongo chief

... tells Ghanaians in diaspora

The Ashanti Regional Zongo Chief Alhaji Omar Farouk Saeed has called on Ghanaians in diaspora to make Ghana their priority in terms of their investment decisions so to ensure accelerated national development and growth.

According to him the nation’s development is the collective of responsibility of all its citizens irrespective of their place of residence and urged Ghanaians resident abroad to continue to support Ghana not only through their remittances but with their knowledge and expertise as well.

Addressing a cross section of the Ghanaian community in Hamburg over the weekend, Alhaji Saeed maintained that the all nations that have achieved economic and technological development have done so because they made a conscious effort to invest in the education of their people and appealed to Ghanaians living abroad to invest in the education sector.

In response the national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Germany Mr. Dwamena Yeboah noted that despite the immense contributions Ghanaians in diaspora continue to make towards the socio-economic development of the country, their role have not been recognized and appreciated by government.

He disclosed that in 2012 alone the remittances sent to Ghana through official channels amounted to $18.7 Billion far exceeding the total revenues from the country’s cocoa exports adding that despite these immense contributions, Ghanaians in diaspora are still being treated like second class citizens by their own governments.

Mr. Dwamena Yeboah pointed out that apart from the fact that Ghanaians in diaspora are not allowed to vote although a law to that effect has been passed since 2006(ROPPAL Act 626), they also suffer humiliation and hostilities from customs officials and immigration officers at the point of entry as well as from embassy staff in the various missions.

He stressed that as much as Ghanaians living abroad are prepared to invest in their homeland, government also has duty of creating an enabling environment for business to thrive and grow .He said that the current high cost of doing business in Ghana, persistent power shortages, cumbersome clearing procedure at the ports and the daily depreciation of the cedi against major currencies are major issues that need to be addressed.

Almost all the speakers emphasized the need for practical steps to would curb the massive corruption in government, streamline the clearing process at the ports and the immediate implementation of ROPPA so as to give Ghanaians in diaspora an equal voice in deciding who rules the country.

Other topics discussed during the two-hour meeting included, job creation, the energy crisis and the election petition currently before the Supreme Court.

Kwaku Anane-Gyinde

Germany