GHANA @57 - WHY GHANA IS A FAILED STATE

This candid article is being written as a critique to the political double talk and spin as expressed by both the main political parties in relation to the current state of the country. It is also to serve as a wake up call in the light of our so-called independence “celebrations” to make a critical analysis of where we are after 57 years of so-called independence.

It is also a response to a recent report by The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) which stated confidence in the economy was low.

For the record I am NOT affiliated to any political party in Ghana nor for that matter do I have allegiance to one party or another based on tribal leanings.

My whole raison d'être is to see the TOTAL economic emancipation of Ghana and see the country be a haven of peace, prosperity, a vanguard of human decency, in pursuit of freedom and justice with respect for the rule of law.

When one looks at where we came from following the early years of independence and when one looks at where Ghana is today it is no exaggeration to say that Ghana is a failed state and that we need new leadership with the vision, foresight and innovate thinking to take Ghana into the oasis of economic freedom which is the ultimate objective for a country like Ghana.

Therefore as a result of bad leadership post 1966, Ghana is where it is today - in short a country with a broken economy, poor infrastructure, poor quality healthcare system that is unable to deliver appropriate services, a poor quality and flawed system of education and a country that essentially CANNOT feed itself.

This measured and non-politically biased article is to inform the readership of the 10 most compelling reasons why Ghana is a failed state and why Ghana desperately needs new leadership with creative ideas.

EDUCATION:
The first way in which Ghana is a failed state is in the field of education. Education is not just about passing exams, or whether the duration of SHS is 3 or 4 years but rather it is much deeper than this.

Education is an ideology and it is getting those students who pass through the system of education to buy into that ideology in which their studies SHOULD enforce this ideology by making them nationalistic and more importantly use the tenets of that ideology to serve mother Ghana.

When we look around the world especially at developed economies, it is the ideology prevalent in their education system that was inculcated into those who went through the system and the products of that system have used that ideology to enhance the economic, political, cultural, technological and spiritual value system of their countries.

Two countries that adopted this ideological education system spring to mind. The South Koreans and more potently the Chinese. Under Mao Tse Tung the Chinese developed an education system that was essentially Chinese that inculcated into the minds of the Chinese who went through this system a sense of China first, last and always and that nothing else mattered but for the TOTAL economic emancipation of China and all the benefits that would come with it.

This sense of being was made possible by having an ideology in the Chinese education system that was essentially Chinese with the usage of the Chinese tongue Cantonese/Mandarin being a key component and getting the Chinese to buy into that nationalistic ideology.

Today when we see what China has become, it is thanks to this ideological education system that made the Chinese (a) to be proud to be Chinese and (b) to work tirelessly and selflessly for mother China.

Over the last 30 years when the World began to change, our leadership has failed to institutionize a nationalistic, pro-Ghana, Pan-Afrikan educational system that would inculcate into the minds of those who go through the system a sense of pride in being Ghanaian/Afrikan and that the only thing that mattered was Ghana and Afrika.

This ideological failure as well as failing to put the resources needed including paying teachers a good salary has resulted in a two tier education system with the advent of the so-called international schools that charge very high school fees in many cases up to GHc 800 per pupil per term with only those who can afford it sending their children to those schools.

Even those who can't afford it are pressurized into sending their children to these schools because the quality and facilities are better than the state schools.

This two tier educational system where the vast majority go to the resource starved state schools is bad for our national development because if the majority of children are going to schools that are starved of resources and where the teachers don't care about the welfare of the children but rather are looking for ways to supplement their meager income, then it is not a surprise that the vast majority of those that go to these state schools are coming out of those institutions less intelligent than what they were before they entered those institutions as exemplified by the FACT that in 2011 more than 50% failed their BECE – in actual fact the last few years has seen a steep decline in the pass rates of the BECE proving that our education system is in CRISIS!!!

In the days of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president, Ghana had the BEST education system in Afrika that was even envied in the West and it was not surprising that Ghana at the time was producing first class doctors, nurses, scientists, civil engineers, pilots and so forth and because of this excellence in Nkrumah's Ghana first, Pan-Afrikan ideological education system, Ghana was rapidly developing its economy and was even talking about Atomic Energy to meet its energy needs.

Today as a result of subsequent leaders post 1966 failure to overstand the concept of education and putting in the necessary resources, our once envied education system is in a complete shambles, is too European orientated, is too exams based and more importantly has done nothing to enshrine the ethos of self-help, pride in ones race and the concept of nation-building and development into the psyche of the Ghanaian.

HEALTH:
The next area which defines Ghana as a failed state is in the discipline of health.

Again under the leadership of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana had the best healthcare system on the continent because Dr. Nkrumah knew that economic development could not be realized unless the citizens of the country were healthy.

As such he built numerous hospitals and clinics such as Komfo Anokye and in addition to this he built the GIHOC pharmaceutical complex to provide our hospitals with first class , safe and indigenous drugs and invested heavily in hospital infrastructure and equipment.

Today mainly as a result of the mis-management of the health service by successive Ghanaian leaders, the Ghana Health Service is in terminal decay. One only has to go to Korle-Bu in Accra, despite the great work of Professor Frimpong-Boateng and Okomfo Anokye in Kumasi to see how far the Ghana Health Service has fallen.

Poorly paid and de-motivated and even overworked doctors and nurses, poor working conditions, dilapidated hospitals, lack of PROPER medicines, lack of cutting edge medical equipment /technology and facilities are commonplace in today's Ghanaian health service.

This poor healthcare has resulted in a poor quality of life for the vast number of Ghanaians whereby according to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), the life expectancy for a Ghanaian male is 52 years and the life expectancy for a Ghanaian female is 57 years.

Again as far as healthcare is concerned Ghana's leaders have failed to invest in medicines especially traditional/indigenous medicines that can cure Ghanaians from the diseases they are suffering from such as sickle cell, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervix cancer, fibroid tumors and diabetes.

Ghanaian leaders have failed to invest in indigenous medical research that is needed to identify and hence find solutions to the health problems facing Ghanaians indicating by and large that successive Ghanaian leaders have failed Ghanaians in this crucial area of human development.

THE ECONOMY:
The next area where Ghana is a failed state is in the critical area of the economy.

Despite the hype often dished out and the indicators like interest rates and inflation, the harsh reality of Ghana's economy is that despite certain pronouncements, in a shambles.

For example our balance of payments balance sheet is in dire straits i.e. we import too much which has a strain on the economy in that imports have to be paid in US dollars.

Next our economy depends too much on donor handouts, our manufacturing base is virtually DEAD and there is high unemployment especially youth unemployment.

In May 2001 a former minister in the last NPP government Kwamena Bartels made this accurate assertion about the state of Ghana's economy. He said “After 20 years of implementing structural adjustment programmes, our economy has remained weak and vulnerable and not sufficiently transformed to sustain accelerated growth and development.

Poverty has become widespread, unemployment very high, manufacturing and agriculture in decline and our external and domestic debts too heavy a burden to bear”

The above statement by Mr. Bartels sums up to a tee the state of Ghana's economy today.

It was especially under the PNDC/NDC 1 that our economy has suffered greatly. For example during the 1980's the PNDC allowed themselves to be manipulated by the crafty IMF/World Bank and embarked on policies such as the so-called Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) and Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP).

It was these programmes that were the genesis of the massive unemployment that Ghana suffers from today. Over the following years more than 300 state owned industries built by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah were either sold off to private concern or left to rot leaving in the process more than 300,000 Ghanaians unemployed.

These state industries, some of which were profitable, like the Black Star Line Shipping Company , GIHOC, SSB Bank, Tema Steel Company, Nsawam Cannery, the Jute Factory and the Sugar Factory created numerous job opportunities for Ghanaians that also improved their quality of life.

As a result of accepting very bad policy making decisions from the likes of the World Bank, Ghana now has mass unemployment and an economy hitherto based on buying and selling.

How on earth can you create an economy that is mostly based on buying and selling and expect our economy to expand giving people REAL job opportunities and creating wealth that trickles down to the very poor.

Macroeconomic figures like interest rates , inflation, Gross Domestic Product, Foreign Direct Investment are really misnomers that are just used to con the public into thinking that our economy is on track.

If our economy was really on track there would not be a dangerous dependency on donors (Ghana's budget is 50% financed by donor countries like the US), there would not be mass unemployment , people would have money in their pockets, our key sectors like manufacturing and agriculture would be thriving, our private sector would be competitive and the nation's wealth would trickle down to the very poorest in society.

This shows that our economy is very WEAK and unless there is a fundamental seachange and paradigm shift in economic policy, management and implementation then our economy will always remain weak and controlled by non-Afrikans like the Europeans, Lebanese, Chinese and Indians who repatriate the vast profits they make in Ghana to thier mother countries – such movement is described as capital flight.

WATER AND ELECTRICITY:
Perhaps one of the biggest ways that Ghana has become a failed state is in the provision of reliable and constant water and electricity supply. I remember growing up in late 1970's in Accra and do not remember when there were power outages and water shortages.

In terms of electricity Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and his visionary leadership had constructed the Akosombo Dam with plans to build the Bui Dam in the pipeline, as a means of providing electricity to the masses of the people.

And because of the investment and maintenance of the dam electricity was in constant supply and the incidents of power outages were very rare – indeed Ghana was a net exporter of electricity to the likes of Togo and Benin.

Today because of the mismanagement of the Akosombo Dam, the main channel in which electricity is supplied, because the plans to construct the Bui Dam were put on hold , and because of the lack of strategic and innovative thinking to look at alternative sources of energy generation by sucessive Ghanaian leaders, electricity supply in large parts of the country especially in the capital Accra has become precarious.

This does not imply that there are not internal problems such as illegal connections and the like but the crux of the issue is that if there was strategic thinking and proper management of the system then the frequent power outages that Ghanaians are suffering from would not be evident.

The same can be said for water supply. In days of yore the pipes used to be flowing freely and the instances of water shortages were not as widespread as it is now.

Due to lack of creative thinking, some of our leaders saw it fit to part privatize the water supply but this strategy has proved to be disastrous as this privatization has made the availability of water even scarce with many parts of the country facing acute water shortages.

ALL our leadership since 1966 have failed to come up with innovative solutions like underground irrigation systems, man-made reservoirs and solar energy to solve our water and energy problems and illustrates the lack of strategic joined-up thinking and planning in these two crucial aspects of nation building.

Without constant power and water supply, the economic strides that this country wants to attain will be virtually impossible as water and energy are the two pillars of economic development.

EMPLOYMENT :
The next area where Ghana is a failed state is employment . Today in Ghana as a result of sucessive Ghanaian leaders blindly following economic policies prescribed by the Bretton-Woods institutions (IMF & World Bank), mass unemployment especially youth unemployment has become the norm.

In the years following political independence, there was full employment in Ghana with industries such as the Tema Steel Factory, Ghana Airways, The Black Star Shipping Line, Social Security Bank (SSB), The Jute Factory, GHACEM, GIHOC, The Shoe Factory in Kumasi, The Abosso Glass Factory, The Sugar Factory at Komenda, The State Fishing Corporation, The Radio Factory, Takoradi Flour Mill, The Nsawam Cannery and the Tomato Factory at Wenchi amongst many others that were giving the Ghanaian great employment opportunities – moreover Ghanaians were also getting valuable management experience.

Where are these industries now? , you may be asking. Well the aforementioned industries along with many, many others were as a result of blindly following 'advice' from the likes of the IMF, either sold off cheaply to private concern or just left to rot in the bush leaving in the process tens of thousands of Ghanaians on the dole.

Subsequent Ghanaian leaders have failed miserably to come up with innovative and creative solutions to combating the mass unemployment especially youth unemployment that is rife in the country today – GYEDA although in theory a sound policy has been beset with a plethora of problems ranging from the quality of jobs offered through to delay in payment of salaries and of course deep corruption which appears to be a cancer that is eating every facet of Ghanaian life and is contributing to the failed state analysis.

Instead many people have become involved in the blossoming informal sector (nsuo wura, kenkey seller, fried rice vendor, kelewele wura, etc) as a means to make ends meet, while some graduates who have no connections are on the streets selling PK mints, dog chains, tooth picks, handkerchiefs, toilet roll and the like.

The sparse employment opportunities that are out there have been hijacked by some who practice tribalism, sexism and preference for friends and family and not entirely basing their judgment on one's work ethics, experience or capabilities.

What the above highlights is that there is an unemployment crisis of epic proportions that if not solved could lead to a massive social time bomb that could have grave consequences for the country.

if our 'independence' is to mean anything our political elite who have been entrustedd to solve the above problems on behalf of the Ghanaian populace MUST begin to put in place REAL policies that will change the lives of the majority of the people AND NOT just the few.