Ghana Beyond Aid, An Illusion that can never be fulfilled or A Realistic Agenda?

It is incumbent on us as a nation to harness and prudently manage the country's vast natural resources to finance Ghana's development agenda without recourse to foreign assistance. It is on this premise that I am highly in favor of the motion "Ghana Beyond Aid a Realistic Agenda".

It is an undeniable fact that Ghana is blessed with numerous natural and mineral resources. In spite of this, Ghana is still at the mercy of foreign donors to be able to carry out majority of its development agenda.

It could not be right that 65 years after independence, the country still depend on external assistance in spite of its extraordinary natural and human resources.

Ghana as a nation has been dependent on aid, largely because we have not been able to develop our economy to the extent that allows us to do things for ourselves. By now, Ghana should be able to fund all activities by itself. When this is done, we can have full control over our own destiny as a nation.

It must be noted that foreign aids come with corresponding conditionalities whose harsh repercussions on Ghanaians are immeasurable. Reference can be made of Ghana's continuous reliance on IMF and other Bretton Woods Institutions which is accompanied by harsh conditions such as Net freeze on employment which immensely contributed to the high epidemics of unemployment in the country.

When we are able as a nation to have full control over our own destiny, we will be able to decide for ourselves which things are priorities for us and then go ahead to address them and NOT to be at the receiving end of other people's instructions.

In my humble opinion, I think the time has come for us to realize this potential and make a conscious effort together as a people to get there.

Ghana today does not have control over most of its critical economic elements and the situation where foreign entities dominated the most important sectors of Ghana's economy 'cannot be right' and ought to change.

In a nutshell, *Ghana Beyond Aid* is not an illusion which can never be fulfilled, BUT a realistically feasible agenda which has the propensity to transform the destiny of Mother Ghana.

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana And Make Our Nation Great And Strong