Open Letter to the Citizenry on demanding appropriate actions for achievement of Ghana beyond Aid

Fellow Ghanaians, Good day,

The Holy Bible at Ecclesiastic 1.9 declares ‘That what has been done before will be done again or ‘what has happened before will happen again’. This great declaration in the Holy Bible at Ecclesiastic 1.9 is in consonance with a concept by Karl Marx, a political theorist that ‘history repeats itself’ this is accepted by historian. Also risk experts do say that ‘what risk has happened before has a chance to occur again’ So, this very great lesson from the Holy Book and from the School of thoughts imply that to avert the repetition of the occurrence of a particular incident or human endeavor (event), a drastic change is sin qua non (indispensable requirement in law or absolutely necessary).

So, Ghana noted for opting for the bailout from the IMF several times and now struggling to meet the IMF conditionality for another bailout were and is expected respectively just as stated in the Holy Bible at Ecclesiastic 1.9, due to the same attitude of our Political Leaders keeping on running the Economy of Ghana since 1993, like the operation of Abirampa Drug Store in Nankpanduri village, so it will give the same effects as in the past. That is by resorting to buying and selling without effective production through the right or effective investment, the end result is the turning to IMF for the ritual bailout as part of our political and economy history or is in our DNA.

So, learning about the political history of a Country is very important, so as to avoid repeating of the silly mistakes made in the past including the locating of an industry at wrong place like the Komenda Sugar Production Series (with three components or units namely the Sugar Plantation, a Sugar Mill and a Sugar Refinery each capable of operating as standalone at different locations contingent on the economics of scale.

A study of the history of Ghana would have given a hint why Dr Nkrumah built a sugar factory at Komenda and not the original location at Tistso in the Volta Region which better had comparative advantage than Komenda. This study coupled with feasibility studies would have informed those who built Komenda is not ideal for it and it was built by Dr Nkrumah not for economic reason but as both political and social reasons (to win the support of the Apkeptesi brewers and bring attitudinal change).

Otherwise a feasibility study of the area as stated will have revealed that Komenda is not a good place to build a sugar production series of that magnitude. Please Google for ‘Ghana to have new Sugar Factory published in 2010’ when the regime of President Mills wanted Cargill International to revamp the Komenda etc sugar factories in 2010. This will confirm, that the project at Komenda is a financial loss to the State.

Additionally, history would have informed one that the idea of backward integration without a Sugar Policy especially off taker agreement at an acceptable cost to both parties namely the farmers or out growers whose land have alternative usages and the Factory. One would have deduced that it was not economically sound at Komenda knowing the attitude of farmers in Ghana especially the presence of local din brewers at the area as competitors, so farmers no matter what support you give them, they will always be looking for the highest bidder. The story of the Northern Star Tomato factory in the North should have educated the affecting regime to do the right thing. Also history would have educated our leaders the good policies made in the past which must be emulated for Ghana to breakthrough. Especially Policies like the Agric Sector Reforms or Revolution (OPERATION FEED YOURSELF) and the Industrial Sector reform codenamed OPERATION FEED YOUR INDUSTRIES coupled with the Domestication or Nationalization exercise executed by the NRC of the late General Acheampong.

Another good policy was the support for Ghanaians to take the Commanding Heights in the economy by the late General Acheampong. The New Deal, a two-year National Development Plan in the regime of the Late Dr Hilla Liman was another good policy which would have educated our leaders on how to manage the economy. It is the lack of coherent national policy that has prompted the Fixing the Country Agenda, a vehicle especially in the website of the reputable media namely Modern Ghana to bring to your consumption and for the guidance of the future generations, the authentic facts on the economic, political and social, history of Ghana and national issues on the front burner. So as to inform you that Smart and effective investment in the production sector especially the Agricultural Sector for it take her original lead in the economy sector and assumes her status as the catalyst for the Industrial Sector and Service Sector cannot be over-emphasized.

Folks, a study of the history of the Agricultural Revolution in Britain and America will tell that Agricultural led to the Industrial Revolution and consequently the expansion or rapid growth of the Service Sector of the Economy. Thus, the Agric Sector creates food security, wealth and jobs and affords lucrative opportunity for an import substitution policy. The Agricultural Sector therefore is the engine for massive economy growth and the catalyst for the rapid growth of the Industrial Sector and the Service Sector. As stated, History will tell that due to the Agric Revolution, the Industrial revolution was born and which through innovation and technological inventions, drastically changed the process or method of farming from type manual or small scale farm holdings to Mechanized Large Scale or Commercial Farming.

Pardon me to echo that Ghana political History tells how the late General Acheampong immediately on toppling Dr Busia’s regime, appointed himself as the Minister for the hitherto Ministry of Economy Planning and Finance and made economy planning as the centerpiece for National Development Plan so he came out with good policies like OPERATIONS FEED YOUR SELF, saw the need for the transformation and modernization of the Agric Sector by among others, with the establishment of a lot of irrigation infrastructures almost nationwide, road infrastructure (including feeder roads), mechanization of farming hence he established Farmers Service Company with tractors, power tillers, Combined Harvesters for hiring to farmers etc to support the Operation Feed Yourself, and to ensure huge production of raw material for the Operations Feed Your Industries for value addition and reduction of post-harvest losses.

In order to ensure a viable production sector in the extractive sector as a measure to support the growth of the economy, the late General Acheampong nationalized the Mining Sector and saw the need to revitalize the State Gold Mining Corporation (SGMC) mainly underground mines at Prestea, Tarkwa etc to preserve or protect the environment. SGMC was established by the CCP regime. He nationalized AGC Obuasi Mines, then 100% private owned and then nationalized Ghana Italian Petroleum Company (GHAIP) then 100% private owned by ENI) which metamorphosed into Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). TOR was nationalized with 100% ownership by the State by the late General Acheampong in 1977. His policy of Ghanaians gaining the Commanding Heights of the economy by local content or participation in the high level economy activities and his numerous infrastructure nationwide as well as the start of the Kpong Irrigation Hydro-Electric Power continued by Dr Hilla Liman made the late General Acheampong as an icon (star) of Ghana after Dr Nkrumah.

Fellow Countrymen, the economy was managed without the late General Acheampong borrowing even a dollar but he was able to put up a lot of infrastructures from only national revenue. These infrastructures among others, including the SSNIT Flats nationwide, other Estate houses (low cost houses) nationwide. a lot of Irrigation systems, a lot of Stadia, including Stadium at each Districts in 1977, and rebuilt the Kumasi Stadium in 1977. He saw the need to develop the potential or major rivers for mini-hydroelectric power Stations and initiated the Kpong Irrigation and Hydroelectric Power Station.

The regime of Dr Liman as stated also launched the New Deal a two-year National Agenda from September 1979 to September 1981 as a National Development Plan with Agric sector playing a centerpiece for the growth of the economy. He continued with the development of the BUI Dam, and worked on the Kpong Irrigation/Power Plant.

Folks the situation in the Fourth Republic is not worth talking about despite, instead of blaming our greed, corrupt acts and Pull Him Down tendencies and our incompetent in managing things, some of us have resort to wrongly blaming the 199 Constitution which was framed based on our Economic, social and political history. So, the performance of subsequent Administrations in the Agric Sector after both the regimes of the late General Acheampong/the late Dr Liman shows abysmal operation hence bad results in the Agric Sector, this made the Agric Sector to lack behind the two other Sectors of the economy namely the Service Sector and the Industrial Sector.

Curiously, the manufacturing subsector of the Industrial Sector of the Economy has been growing woeful around 2.5%. Hence, the economy of Ghana was and is propelled by the Service Sector followed by the Industrial Sector, with Agric Sector noted by even a JS pupil as the engine for economy growth, lacked behind both the Service Sector and the Industrial Sector.

Hence, one may therefore ask what caused and is causing this state of affairs of the very poor economy of Ghana. The answer is poor economy planning by the Rawlings regime and the failure by subsequent or successive Administrations after the Rawlings Regime to abide among others, the Constitutional requirements at Article 86 and Article 87 of the 1992 Constitution, which ceded the Economy Planning wing from the hitherto Ministry of Finance and Economy Planning and established the National Development Planning Commission with functions respectively.

As well as not abiding by the Maputo Accord of 2003 which asked Heads of State of Africa to provide 10% of yearly budgetary allocation for the transformation and modernization of the Agric Sector. Yes, the problem started from the regime of President Rawlings. Though the regime in 1994 as required by the Constitution, enacted appropriate laws to operationalize the NDPC, he failed to ensure to put measures like including experts from the other major political parties like the NPP and the CPP family other than the NDCs and her associates as members of the NDPC so that together they come out with National Development Plans accepted by all so that the plan(s) will be continued to be rolled over in subsequent or Successive Regimes. The boycott of the NPP in the 1992 election and or the alleged stolen verdict may be the reason for this failure on the part of the NDC1 and NDC2 Regimes to act as per the Constitutional intention. So both the NDC and the NPP share the blame for the bad management of the economy as subsequent details in this submission speak of or the history of Ghana tells

This failure of the Rawlings Administration to ensure a buying by all major political parties of the Vision 2020 for Ghana Beyond Aid by 2020 as launched in 1995 as 25 years Development Plan spelt the doom or the bad state of the economy. The year 2000 saw a new regime under the NPP. The bad state of the economy at the time the baton was handed over to President Kufuor coupled with the bad blood between ex-president Rawlings and the President Kufuor might have caused the later to abandon the Vision 2020, on takeover in 2000 by the NPP 1 Administration. President Kufuor’s regime as result of the bad state of the economy opted for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and abandoned the Vision 2020 and initiated the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS 1) with focus on production, gainful employment, social program for vulnerable and others for the period 2003 to 2005.

President Kufuor launched second phase of Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy as GPRS2, which was designed for the period 2006 to 2009 as sequel to GPRS1, with focus towards a realization of macroeconomic stability but this was compounded by global financial crisis.

Subsequent regimes under the late President Mills and others also developed different development plans for their own purposes for instance, the President Mills regime developed the Ghana Growth and Development Agenda (GGDA) as successor to GPRS11. The regime of ex-President Mahama and the REGIME OF President Nana Addo developed different plans.

Hence a good project like the Aveyime Rice Production (Project Quality Grain Project) of the NDC 1 and NDC2 could not be put into good use by all the regimes of the Fourth Republic despite the massive loans procured by them. It was only the regime of ex-President Kufuor who made an attempt to revamp it with the support of an American Investor, owner of Parraire Rice Irrigation Company without success.

Folks, due to our buffoonery, the budgetary allocation to the Agric Sector has never been up to 1% of the National Budget, hence this percentage fell below 10% by the Maputo Accord in 2003 for as the national budget allocation to be granted for the transformation and modernization of the Agric Sector. To add salt to the injury, the Agric Sector in Ghana is seen as more of a Social Sector hence the slogan Planting for Food and Jobs instead of Planting for food and Export or Cash by exporting both raw material and value added products from Agro industries which will also create the jobs or better jobs and not jobs like carriage of loads of Agric inputs like loading and offloading of fertilizer etc which were/are reckoned as jobs as part of national statistics It is high time we see the Agric sector as the lifeline for the economy of this Country .

At this juncture, the Jospong Group must be commended for their attempt to ensure massive rice production in this Country through their joint ventures with investor from Thailand and Austria and their collaboration with local research institutions to ensure massive rice production

Folks, once again, the Constitutional intention for the ceding of the Economy Planning wing from the hitherto Ministry of Finance and Economy Planning and established the National Development Planning Commission, was to make the Minister as or budget Minister or real Finance Minister as the name suggest looking for revenue through tax and borrowing of loans to finance general government expenditures including projects OR Plans based on comparative advantages of the Regions of Ghana as formulated by from the NDPC .

Unfortunately, our Leaders in the Fourth Republic made the NDPC (or the Ministry of Economy Planning wing) ineffective. So the inability of Ghana to succeed in planning for effective import substitution policies as well as generate adequate revenue from massive production in the Agric sector, from massive Manufacturing of items, and huge foreign currency from the mining sector through the control of smuggling of gold and diamond by Small Scale miners in the Mining sectors, these coupled with the wastages of foreign loans and acts of corruption are the reasons for the poor state of the economy

So, the financing of the national budget through unfriendly or high taxes and the securing of huge non- concessionary loans, which shockingly were not used for seriously especially for effective production. So the economy had to depend on the Service sector and to some extent the Industrial Sector by the business of buying/Importing and selling things economy. Hence, the poor state of the economy of Ghana is self-inflicted or attributed to the mismanagement of the economy by our leaders and this has been aggravated by the exogenous factors especially COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia War and the activities of the Federal Reserve of USA which led to foreign investors withdrawing from Ghana and rather developed the taste for investing in USA due to better yield and less risk.

.

Folks, the political and economy history of this Country will tell, that the Economy has been in the mess since 1993 and as a result it was/is always on the lifeline of the yearly ritual of Cocoa syndicate loan otherwise concessionary loans especially from the Eurobond Market. Hence the declined of the economy started effective 2013 when Ghana diversify the traditional multinational sources for funding or loans thud developed a taste for funding from the Eurobond Market at a very high interest rates as determined by market conditions which had no policy adjustment conditionalities and the money was used for mostly nonproductive activities.

The Nana Addo regime compounded the situation when it failed to provide adequate budgetary support for the much tooted Planting for Food and Job. Program. Hmm, the name Planting for Food and Job was a very bad choice because it demo that it was a social sector venture and not economic sector venture. The Nana Addo Agric policy will have made great impact if the Project was named as Planting for Food and Wealth with the provision of not less than 6 % budgetary support as against about 1% granted by the Administration and supported it with an import substitution policy.

Once again, the current situation of the economy is because the Administration of President Nana Addo continued with the taste for more loans at the Eurobond Market. So, the Budget (Finance) Minister at one time prided himself for gaining over subscriptions of the bonds by foreign investors and celebrated his alleged achievement with a kenkey party. Little did he know that could be the nemesis (catastrophe) of the Country since it led Ghana to the state of unsustainable debt level.

Folks, the growth of the economy and generating of more jobs, globally is part of the responsibility of the Central Bank, hence in line with section (2) (a) and section (2) (c) of Article of 36 of the 1992 Constitution Bank of GHANA responsible for the stability of the Currency and is to encourage and promote the economy development.

So, it is high time the Bank of Ghana is allowed by applying these two Constitutional imperative to follow the footsteps of the Nigeria Central Bank and pre-finance massive Rice Production as part of import substitution (reduction of the yearly huge foreign exchange of over 2 Billion Dollars spent on importing rice, so that the surplus is exported to generate more dollars.

The Bank of Ghana must support the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) with adequate funds for buying of gold from the Small Scale Sector and exporting same by the Precious Minerals Marketing Company for 100 percent repatriation of the foreign currency so as to generate huge revenue to Ghana, at the shortest time since gold has the shortest gestation period and not very bulky product required to generate huge foreign exchange. Example one troy ounce of gold fetches about 2,000 US Dollars than any production or all exportable products in Ghana, so gold can generate enough Reserves at Bank of Ghana and thus the fastest way to help in the economy recovery program. So the Gold for Oil Deal must be supported by everyone with good ideas and monitoring to ensure it boost the economy.