Ghana needs to return to military rule - GCPP leader charges

2012 presidential candidate of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey is calling for a return to military rule as the surest way to accelerate the development of the country.

He believes if the nation was under military rule, rampant corruption in the country would not be in existence for the nation to experiencing economic challenges. 

The leader and Chairman of the GCPP, Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey believes a return to military rule will instill some discipline in Ghanaians who steal the country's resources for their personal benefit and that of their friends.

He also took a swipe at government for mismanaging the economy. According to him, Ghanaians are feed up with the current economic hardship bedeviling the country which he said keeps worsening by the day as he puts the blame squarely at the doorstep of leadership.

Dr. Henry Lartey in an interview said the leadership needs to think about an innovative way to deal with corruption to save the country.

“Leadership is not rulership. Leadership is not kingship. Leadership is when you have creative mind. Leaders need to think on their feet and bring out sterling ideas to change lives”, he said.

He also cited the rising cost of transportation, accommodation, food among others, resulting from the sharp fall of the cedi against the major international currencies as a major problem that needs to be tackled.

Dr. Lartey said the present economic doldrums are having adverse implications on the salaries of workers, which demands an immediate intervention from the central government. “Ghanaians are facing difficult times; I think urgent steps are needed in solving these problems,” the 2012 presidential candidate asserted.

He lamented: “Sadly, the managers of our national economy have chosen to ignore the advice of the local professionals and many other brilliant suggestions that have been put forward by civil society organizations. Instead, those in charge of our economy have chosen to rely on the economic policy advice of experts at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.”

He reiterated the need for a policy of domestication that his late father, Dan Lartey preached as the long term solution to the country's economic woes. “Eat what you grow. Grow what you eat, stockpile and export. Domestication can end the dollarisation of Ghana's economy,” Dr. Lartey said.

“We have to earn more from our exports such as oranges, pineapples, pawpaw, mangoes as well as other fruits and vegetables by value addition. Ghana cannot rely on cocoa alone for a lifetime at the expense of other products”, he advised.

He said: “We should encourage the large production of rice, maize, palm oil, rubber and sugarcane for the production of sugar”, and warned that: “If we don't promote domestication to change our current import and export orientation, then the light at the end of the tunnel will continue to elude us”.

He explained “When the total dollar value of a country's imports exceeds the total dollar value of its exports, the county has a trade deficit. This means the country is exporting fewer goods than it is importing. When a country's trade deficit increases, the value of that country's currency depreciates against the currency of its trading partner countries.”

Despite all these suggestions on how to deal with the problems of the economy, Dr. Lartey maintained: “A short-term solution to Ghana's woes is returning to military rule.”

On how the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) is faring, he said the party has begun strengthening its structures at the grassroots level as part of the party's preparations ahead of the 2016 elections.