The day the lights went out Nkrumah’s coup

I chose the word “light” as it is the new buzz word, “dum sor” . A month earlier in 1966, Osagyefo , the “Western Show Boy” and President of the Black Star Republic of Ghana had officially inaugurated the Volta Dam to supply light and energy for industrialization. The dam was also the largest manmade lake in the world at that time, and could irrigate a vast area while providing a transport link and habitat for fresh water fish . Like all his projects it was a multipurpose, and huge in implementation. It was a reflection of the type of leadership we had . He thoughts were big and so he was grandiose. The opposition NPP that could not think along those lines had used their access to block its realization , just as they had gone to the UK to plead “we were not ready for self rule”. Can you imagine it ? The Black man going to the Whiteman to tell him “ we Blacks cannot run our own affairs” We wish to remain second class citizens of the world . We lack the ability to govern ourselves , so we can be surrogates . Those were J B Danquah and Prof Busia . Now it was “ please leave us to remain in darkness” . Dum kanie, put out the light. The stage was set to make sure Ghanaians and Africans remained in darkness and be the dumping ground for manufactured produce. So as the guns fired and the “ myth” around Nkrumah was said to be broken , we the gullible illiterates rejoiced, but the Masters laughed behind our backs. “Another Redskin hits the dust” . “ Who next”? . And this was the Big one . What did Ghana gain ? Surplus rice . A product we were producing . Now we spend $600m annually to import it

I read the other day an analysis of the slide of the Cedi and the joy and glee with which the NPP is having a field day about this.. But do they have the solutions?

It will be recalled that the author of the huge wage bill was ex President Kufour who signed into law the Single Spine wage structure and this was to cover his own retirement package in the region of $1m per annum. Apart from the real estate and the numerous vehicles , he is to have two overseas annual vacations . He, I suppose will spend Cedis in the UK or whatever destination he chooses.. Akufo Addo is doing the same . He wasted 8 months of the time for planning by taking the country to court . His followers marching and discouraging investment in the country. Now they point fingers and pretend they know better

But I digress . Ghana is in similar situation as it was in 1969. (N)PP was in power and I remember the solutions . Devaluation of the Cedi and retrenchment of workers . It ran like this, Ghana farmers Council – Closed, Workers Brigade Closed. GNCC Closed, Jute Factory Closed, Ghana Boatyard Closed, Shoe Factory Closed , Kade Match factory Closed. State Fishing Corp Closed, Cattle development BoaRD Closed, closed, closed. . 400+ industries had Closed next to them . Even the diamond refinery and Gold Refineries were Closed . So why did they devalue the Cedi?

They argued it would make our exports more competitive. We asked which exports? Then they said they were cutting State expenditure and GDP went down by as much as 12.5%. Then as now the private sector could not deliver. They neither had the enterprise nor the capital. If they had why did they not buy Ghana telecom but sold it to Malaysians. What of Ghana Airways, Accra Mall and a whole host of other enterprises that have been left to rot?

Today they prescribe the same solution of cut the State workers. Which ones ? The doctors, or the nurses, or the teachers . But we want FREE SHS . How do we pay for that and who will pay the teachers or teach students? Dr Bawumia , give us answers. What of Justice Sarpong the aspiring Minister for Finance . His State Governor, Perry, prescribed the same “cure”in a presidential debate, only he could not even remember which departments to cut . They talk of cutting out 450000 jobs. Please multiply that by 5 . That gives 2.25m people with no income . What will that do to unemployment and to the GDP? NPP come again. Stop your mumbo jumbo that you call economics. Prove me wrong and come up with workable solutions, not the worn out book theories. Tell us if the USA recovery was based on cut, cut cut or on investment. Remember, Detroit Auto industry and bale out of wobbly institutions? What about TARP and help to Home owners?

Ghana like most African countries suffers from the failure of PRIVATE enterprise . The NPP touts private enterprise but does not practice it. Why have they not bought the 400+ factories left by Nkrumah? Rather they go round looking for investors. I thought they crow everyday about how entrepreneurial they are. Why are they all fighting for Government jobs alongside the lazy “ Atonga –Trokosi”. Ghana needs to produce and do not tell me government should create the enabling environment. NPP was in power for 8 years and why have they not done it? We have Ken Agyepong who says he has $20m to fight Jake . Guys $20m in US DOLLARS for politics that involves IMPORTING , motor bikes, T shirts and a whole host from “Communist China” . He is creating jobs in China and shouting Mahama is ignorant and is not creating jobs. It was the same person who bought a Jaguar from the UK . Why can that money not be used to reactivate the Jute Factory and the Shoe factory hence creating employment.? Why not poultry farms or re activate the tourism around Lake Bosomtwi? What are our priorities and do we know what we want?

Dr Larbi Siaw says only 2m of the working population pays taxes. This has been the bane for a long time and strategies have been used to broaden the tax base. The introduction of VAT is one of them. Unfortunately it is retrogressive as it can be shifted. One will remember the first attempts at this were met with resistance spear headed by no other than Akuffo Addo of “ Kuma Preko” fame . For the goodies we need, we need the money . So NPP closed the State enterprises that should generate revenue over time and also opposes broadening the tax base . What alternatives do they have ? Do we not need to generate more revenue instead as he says to clean up the cities, revamp our dormant factories , create green zones , rebuild the schools, upgrade the roads, refurbish the old buildings and maintain the roads, upgrade the drainage systems and water works, build more dams, and bring in alternative forms of energy. Is it not time to invest in rail net work and a whole host of others crying out for attention. Let the so called business people , patriotic as they are pay their fair share of taxes.

So why did we demonize Nkrumah who was producing and creating a market ? He was bombed coming from Burkina Faso, then Upper Volta to negotiate free passage of Ghana made goods and to build the Dam on the Volta. Every where this “ communist” looked, he saw business opportunities and put in his energy to make it work. Most of all he understood economics and finance and their connection to wealth creation . He was not the typical “book long” . Surely he got his degree from “ Makola market” Below was his proposal for Africa

A common market for Africa.
An African currency.
An African monetary zone.
A continental communication system.
But what did the NPP do? Connive with the enemies of Africa to subvert the progress so long as they were not in power . NPP , was and still is the enemy within. Always subverting the government of the day through various ways of sabotage. I read they want IMF, the World bank and EU to stop helping Ghana. What a shame. Please read the quotations below

Komer and Nkrumah were in agreement. “Where the more subtle methods of economic pressure and political subversion have failed to achieve the desired result,” Nkrumah wrote from exile in Guinea three years later, “there has been resort to violence in order to promote a change of regime and prepare the way for the establishment of a puppet government.”

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Who were the allies of this destabilization? The NPP, the enemy within

So came in (N)PP 1 1969 . They failed and failed miserably as they could not solve anything. What good can they be remembered for but for the litany of disasters. It will be recalled by 1983 when Ghanaians were expelled from Nigeria 1 million Ghanaians had to be repatriated. They were there as “ economic refugees' ,a result of NPP failed policies Their expertise was in undermining and sabotage , not in creation. India with its low labor rate attracted many Western companies aiming to make huge profits by outsourcing. Even with our devaluation we could not .Ghana's labor rate was $0.50 per day, or $0.082 per hour .Then why are our goods not competitive? They told us about free trade when we needed fair trade . What “ good friends we have in capitalists?”

This is a summary of their rule “Despite its short existence, the Second Republic was significant in that the development problems the nation faced came clearly into focus. These included uneven distribution of investment funds and favoritism toward certain groups and regions. Furthermore, important questions about developmental priorities emerged” Nkrumah created factories and markets , but NPP DESTROYED them. They could not live at peace with their neighbors who were sent packing despite being the markets for our goods

The legacy that was left for the Military government that relieved them from their misery was enormous , ranging from unemployment, to decaying infra structure, huge debts, foreign relations failures, disillusionment and lack of direction. To an extent, they tried but were ill equipped . So in “In July 1978, in a sudden move, the other SMC officers forced Acheampong to resign, replacing him with Lieutenant General Frederick W.K. Akuffo. The SMC apparently acted in response to continuing pressure to find a solution to the country's economic dilemma. Inflation was estimated to be as high as 300 percent that year. There were shortages of basic commodities, and cocoa production fell to half its 1964 peak. The council was also motivated by Acheampong's failure to dampen rising political pressure for changes. Akuffo, the new SMC chairman, promised publicly to hand over political power to a new government to be elected by 1 July 1979.

Ghana now has more qualified Human resource than ever before . It is in this adversity that we should realize the folly of our bickering . Let us go back to our roots where all DCEs are tasked with looking for ways to develop their areas using the Chiefs. Acheampong started Regional development Corporations .Economists and industrialists need to put their heads together to innovate goods and services for the markets . Our Hotels need to serve local foods that are in abundance. Kampala International serves “ matoke” , a local dish , so why can we not serve sliced kenkey with nicely fried fish . or rice and beans , garri fotor, abodo, oysters from the Volta river and we bottle “ Ali ha “fried plantain with beans , jollof rice, fried yam or cocoyam served with green vegetables mixed with chicken roasted on fire . What about our Palm wine and other local drinks. We used to make soap , a stearate ,when we used to boil potash with palm oil or coconut oil. Glass making , a product of silicate as we have a lot of sand . Can we not improve on the clay we were using for building to put up affordable units for the low income citizens .Leadership needs to be devolved. “ Adversity is the mother of invention”. No single President can do it. The much touted private sector needs to deliver and deliver NOW

So should Africa lose hope and be despondent? Ghana's problems should not be looked at in isolation but within the context of Africa . It is said “ evolution takes place through cataclysms” Africa should have hope and think outside the box. Africans need to foster close ties with her neighbors. It is still not late for African Americans to pull their resources together for the development of Africa, just as the Jews have done for Israel through the Jewish lobby. Recent events around the Katrina disaster in Southern United States have demonstrated that African Americans are still seen like any other Africans. There was Trayvon Martin and recently a Dunn shooting a 17 year old for loud music. Every where Blacks or people of African origin are at the bottom of the ladder or mistreated due to skin color . Until the fortunes of Africa change, blacks world over – irrespective of status- would not always get the most of what they deserve. That is what will make Africans in the diasporas proud of their heritage . From Brazil In S America to the West Indies all must remember that so long as they are Black “ they are Africans and so we swim or sink together .

This is what Julius Nyerere has to say “Nkrumah has left a legacy we must build on. Unity. “Unity will not end our weakness, but until we unite, we cannot even begin to end that weakness”, As Sam Nujoma, stressed in a recent article in New African magazine, “We must, therefore, mobilize all the African people to work shoulder to shoulder to ensure the realization of the total socio-economic integration of the African continent.”

Forward ever , backward never
The writer is a Pan Africanist who believes that African Unity is the solution to Africa's underdevelopment