By Kofi Akordor
Last week, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) set in motion events that adequately offer Ghanaians an idea of things to come next year when campaign for the Presidency and Parliament gathers steam and moves into top gear.
On Tuesday, May 3, 2011, a former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, paid a visit to the NDC headquarters to collect nomination forms in pursuit of her presidential ambitions.
She did not go there alone; she was joined by her cheering supporters. She followed it up with a press conference the following day at the Accra International Conference Centre to formally launch her campaign for the NDC flagbearership.
On Thursday, May 5, 2011, half of Accra came to a standstill when President John Evans Atta Mills visited the NDC headquarters to collect his nomination forms to begin another journey for the Presidency.
That should have been a simple event, but it took the form of a street carnival and it was obvious that official work in the ministries was abandoned for the day, since every minister was part of the presidential entourage in order not to be seen as part of the other camp.
In the few weeks before the Sunyani congress, we are going to witness a lot of activity from both the Nana Konadu and the President Mills camps to win the hearts of the delegates. Foul words may flow out. There may even be brawls, all in a desperate effort to win power at the party level and later at the national level.
The grand battle will be fought next year when the various presidential candidates gear up for the Presidency. A few loyalists have their fortunes intrinsically tied to those of their presidential candidates. Some will get political appointments, while others will witness breakthroughs in their business activities, hence the desperation in the campaign strategies, sometimes turning acrimonious and bloody.
But what is the gain for the country in general? Does political leadership bring about significant change in the lives of the people?
Surely, those committed to the development of this country will not waste their lives or those of others on their way to seeking the opportunity to serve their nation. The selfish motive is very strong, bringing out all the animalistic instincts in us.
That is the problem of Africa. The enthusiasm with which we approach the quest for political power wanes terribly after we get the power. Africa’s political leadership has become a subject for intense discussion at various international fora. Slavery and colonialism, which were the excuses we had been citing in the past for our poor performance in national development, have been mentioned so often that they have lost attraction.
Notwithstanding those two historical misfortunes, Africa’s underdevelopment remains a mystery, judging from the rich resources it has in abundance and which have gone to make other nations rich and powerful.
The focus is now on political leadership which has been identified as the weakest link in the continent’s quest for development. Addressing a World Economic Forum in South Africa, a former Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, threw the searchlight on political leadership on the continent and said Africa risked squandering rapid economic growth because of poor leadership.
He criticised African leaders who wanted to cling on to power at all cost, instead of developing their economies. He also questioned the over-reliance on unprocessed commodities and insufficient investment in manufacturing and infrastructure.
Mr Annan is a Ghanaian and so he knew what he was talking about. We in Ghana know our situation very well, which fits into what Mr Annan described as “low-quality growth” where we have to import everything, including toothpick from China.
We pride ourselves as top exporters of cocoa beans, timber and bauxite. We have not been able to build industries revolving around these commodities to develop the country’s industrial base and offer employment to our youth.
The cocoa industry alone has the potential of offering jobs to hundreds of thousands of people if we make a deliberate policy to go beyond the production of raw cocoa beans and go into processing.
The case of Nestle is a clear example of what we can do with our natural resources. Nestle is a Swiss company. They do not grow cocoa in Switzerland but Nestle is one of the biggest manufacturers of chocolate and other cocoa products. Why should we be satisfied with being the farmers who produce the cocoa beans while others derive the full benefits?
The same can be said of timber. Why should we destroy our forests by cutting timber logs and exporting them and turn round to import furniture made from our timber for our offices?
We mine gold in Ghana, but, strangely, we do not have a gold refinery which will add value to the unrefined gold. Turkey does not mine gold or diamonds but it has one of the largest jewellery factories in the world.
We have fruits in abundance which go bad when they are in season, but almost all the fruit juices on the shelves of our supermarkets are imported.
It is sad to see tomato puree imported from China being advertised on local television as if they are the best things that could ever happen to a people.
These are serious deficiencies that cannot be blamed on slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism or any world economic order. It is all about leadership and direction. These are serious challenges confronting us as a nation, and so when we pick nomination forms with fanfare, we should not forget that the real work is not just about talking and making promises.
It will be a good thing for our country if we pursue the goals of national development with the same vigour as we pursue the glory of political power.
We must change this country and we do not have any excuse for failure.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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