Ghana needs a visionless leader!

I still recall the scene, vividly, as if it were yesterday- perhaps, the memory of it all enhanced by the demonstrations of former President Rawlings' right hand. It was the Presidential elections of 1996 and Rawlings was addressing an unusual dusk rally in an unequal mixture of Ga and English.

On the Economy, he said that the NDC government had successfully revived it after years of being in the doldrums and strategically repositioned it for take-off. It was at the mention of the words take-off that the demonstration alluded to featured. Like a little boy, the former President flexed his right hand in the manner of an aeroplane revving for take-off.

Twelve years on, the NPP's Nana Akufo-Addo would be heard drawing similar analogies between the Ghanaian Economy and the airline industry; poised for take-off after President Kufour's phenomenal leadership!

Anyone who has heard any Nkrumahist dilate on the subject matter of Nkrumah's Seven-year Development Plan could not possibly have failed to notice the accompanying passion and the sense of a lost/missed opportunity for significant national industrialization and development. Then there are those who refer to Colonel Acheampong's famous Operation Feed Yourself. By the end of the NDC's tenure in 1992, Ghana had birthed yet another Vision, this time christened Vision 2020. Within weeks of assuming power, the NPP had improved upon 2020 in name only. Overnight, 2020 was slashed by ten years and rechristened Vision 2010 and then undergoing further tweaking, got an additional five years to resettle finally at Vision 2015 whose unchanging aim has been to turn Ghana into a middle income status within the duration of the magical numbers referred to.

The Visions it must be pointed out, predate Nkrumah with some going as far back as the Gold Coast to the plans of Governor Guggisberg.

Now with election 2008 approaching, I have thought long and hard about the above visions and come to the conclusion that at this point in our socio-developmental evolution as a country, we need a leader without a vision. Now considering that the good book says unequivocally that without vision, “My people perish” and given the romanticisation of visionary leadership, this might be a tad too hard to swallow.

It must be pointed out however that my outlook is not informed by any prior conclusion or view that presumes the failure of all the past visions alluded to earlier. No! No! No! I am not like that at all. Far be it removed from me that I should be the source of such unappreciative words.

On the contrary, I have been hit by the realization that when it comes to visions or developmental plans, Ghana does not lack. Indeed it is in honouring the past successes in drawing up such visionary plans that I propose the urgent need for a visionless leader as a way of moving the developmental process forward.

Secondly, also contrary to a certain wide-held perception of the divisive nature of the partisan political environment, I have also noticed a most remarkable and refreshing confluence of opinions when it comes to certain policy choices. It is clear therefore to me that our political parties agree more than not and it is my aim in the succeeding paragraphs to examine how we might exploit this agreement to our mutual benefit. Before I commence, let me restate unambiguously that Ghana abounds in such a great overflow of visions that it would be a major setback to elect another visionary leader. The leader to take us to the next level must be remarkable to the extent of being visionless and he must commit himself to rigorously implementing the following visions.

Take off

Take former President Rawlings and Nana Akufo-Addo for example. Clearly, save differences in timing, they both agree that a time comes in the economy of a country when it must take-off. We have waited twelve solid years for this plane to take-off and still they promise. What we certainly don't need in December 2008 is another leader who would spend the next four-eight years envisioning and repositioning the national aeroplane for yet another take-off. At least now we know that both NDC and NPP believe in the vision of Economic Take-Off. Ghana's next leader is hereby enjoined to actually take off immediately.

Private Sector

I am not an economist and yet I have listened long enough to know that when it comes to the economy, both the NDC and NPP have taken great pains to drum it down our ears sufficiently that “the private sector should be the engine of growth”. When the politicians mention engine, I automatically assume it is the aeroplane's engine they are talking about. At least about this vision of what engine should propel this national aeroplane, obviously there is no disagreement which is why it would be most upsetting if after sixteen years of identifying the private sector in both governments, we get a leader who has another vision that also identifies the private sector as the engine of growth. Our next leader is again enjoined to simply refrain from any visionary leadership and proceed to empowering this engine to grow and fly the economy which is already by popular consensus poised for take-off.

Tourism

Thirdly, all the political parties agree on the need to diversify the economy. In doing so, they have pointed out to us that Tourism has great potential and is about the third foreign exchange earner in Ghana. The vision for Tourism is thus crystal clear and has been for the past eight years. Another leader with another vision of diversification and identification of the Tourism potential would be most disappointing. He is advised to proceed with the following; construct the rugged road leading to the astonishingly beautiful Tagbo and Wli Water Falls near Hohoe in the Volta Region and to develop a whole industry around the former and also the Paga Crocodile pond. In my mind's eye, I can see the chicken farming, hospitality industry (and I don't mean coca-cola but rather asana, nmedaa and komini), trained tour guides etc.

I can also see some attention being paid to the presence of some preying white male tourists who are spoilt for choice in some of these sites seeing how easily some parents push their little boys to “follow the white man around. He will give you some money”. What about the internet sites that advertises our country as being a tad too friendly for the would-be pervert? So, no more visions please, just do it!

Agriculture

Another area which has enjoyed such massive support from all political traditions has to do with the statement that “Ghana is an agricultural country and that we must move from subsistence farming to a mechanized one”. This is another very well-established vision and in the light of a certain global food crises has assumed even more importance. But if truth be told, I really do not understand this food crisis, which is also biting the purchase of rice on our local market. Rice? Did I say rice? I recall a 100 million dollars being quoted as the amount spent on rice importation annually. But whatever the infractions of the famous Ms Cotton were, it certainly doesn't justify the underutilization of modern equipment at Aveyime for over seven years, bought for the sole purpose of producing good quality rice if not for export, at least to feed our people.

We are certainly capable of producing good quality rice and not to expect our people to chew stone-laden rice under any guise of supporting local industry. Also, I constantly see huge tubers of yam begging for attention at the roadside not to mention cartons and cartons of tomatoes gone bad by the roadside and we say food crises ?! So, please, no more sermonizing on the “agricultural base of the economy”. I beg you, if you want to mechanize it, just mechanize it, we will not oppose you.

Tax Net

Once again, I lay no claim to economics but I have listened long enough to understand when our politicians talk passionately without exception about the need to broaden the tax net. They say many people don't pay tax, especially those within the informal sector. NDC, NPP, CPP, PNC, GCPP, NRP, QRX have all said it and said it and said it to the point that now we know that it is only the formal sector that is taxed regularly and sustain ably every time. Please, the vision is now clear-broaden the tax net as a means of mopping up the excess liquidity and generating more income. All we need now is someone who will just… Do It! Don't dream about, don't envision it, don't talk about it, don't even think about it unless it is the how-to-do-it bit. Just do it, please!

Education The vision on Education couldn't be clearer; free, compulsory, universal basic education. It is even in the constitution. In addition, some have added the provision of modern schools with all facilities intact, education that enhances the mental and technical ability of the Ghanaian student to adopt a problem-solving approach to the challenges of his environment. Talk has also been rampant about expanding access to tertiary education.

This matter of the absolute importance of the education sector got a recent boost when the former President of the World Bank, Mr. James Wolfensohn delivered his two-day Aggrey-Frazer-Guggisberg lecture. He emphasized the role of education when he said that 32 African countries were indebted to the international community to the tune of US$ 106 billion. But these debts have been reduced to US$8 billion. He therefore, argued that this debt relief must be properly utilized so that Africa does not get back into the bad situation of the past. One of the areas he suggested was that Africa should see education as the first line of attack. He urged African countries to invest in education and into its people. I guess what has to be done is clear and please, please, please, I don't mean rechristening schools from Junior Secondary School (JSS) to Junior High School (JHS) or even Junior Modern School (JMS)! In the final part of this 2-part series, I intend to dwell on certain policies which I would encourage the incoming visionless government to pursue but which being visionless, would ensure that this visionless incoming government may never win a second term of office!