A lot of comments have been made on the $20 million voted for the 50th jubilee celebrations which by the good grace of God went well and was joyously celebrated by all round the country except for a few. All Ghanaians need to be congratulated for making the occasion colourful, outstanding and one to be proud of. Some I believe were those who were waiting for a bad turn of events to quickly point accusing fingers but alas it was the President’s attire for the occasion that got the headline news.
I have like many other citizens been wondering what the real value of the amount voted for the occasion could do to the lives of Ghanaians and the economy as a whole. While the money was used for various activities, some was also voted to buy elegant cars like Mercedes, Jaguars, BMWs, Chryslers and Peugeots, not for Ghanaians but delegates attending, most staying for a few days. I may not be permitted to talk of the 5% and 10% “cuts” that went into some pockets but my biggest concern is what will happen to these cars once the delegates have left? Will they be distributed to politicians or is your guess as good as mine? I stand to be corrected but I thought renting vehicles for this purpose would have been a better alternative. We may soon be asking how well the money for Ghana at 50 was managed, thanks to accountability by the present government. We should not be surprised when heads begin to roll because accountability encompasses management. We are a developing country, not too long ago promoted from being HIPC but portraying ourselves to our donors as affluent when the ordinary Ghanaian is still struggling to have a better quality of life. No wonder the BBC reported on the morning of 6th March that despite the sufferings of most Ghanaians, the Ghana government is spending a hefty $20million for its 50th anniversary celebration.
To the naïve mind, $20 million voted for 22 million citizens could be shared equally to a little under $1 million for each citizen. If this were the case every Ghanaian would have been extremely thankful to the NPP government for solving their biggest problem - “putting monies in their pockets” and helping make ‘poverty history’. I guess this option would have been a very favoured one had a public consultation on what the possible options of use for the $20 million been held.
We are in a society that jobs are hard to come by, university graduates want to go to sweep streets of developed countries where their services are not needed for a few pounds or dollars rather than stay and help build their proud motherland. Obviously this would have been a good opportunity to invest most of the $20 million in creating jobs. Then comes our failing industries, blackouts we are struggling to cope with because of the ailing Akosombo dam (this issue should have been resolved several years ago when we faced similar ordeals), and the Avoeme rice factory that has been sitting waiting for investment to pour in. These projects would obviously have benefited from a fraction of the anniversary money going the long way to create jobs and offer good quality of life to the citizenry. Institutions like the police, judiciary and health would have benefited if they had seen investment from part of this money. Our policemen and women would have benefited from better training to deliver high standard of service for the nation and our health facilities from better equipments and services to provide high quality care for the sick. This all depends on how one looks at the situation for making the country a better one. What are the priorities of our politicians (both in government and opposition), and is the welfare of the nation their primary concern. I really wish someone will help me understand their way of reasoning.
As much as we all wanted a jubilee celebration, I am sure most people will agree with me that $20million was way in the excess considering the numerous woes we are all struggling to overcome as a developing nation.
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