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14.04.2020 Feature Article

Do We Need A New Kind Of Politics - One Underpinned By A Focus On The Welfare Of The Citizenry: And Well-Being Of Mother Nature?

Do We Need A New Kind Of Politics - One Underpinned By A Focus On The Welfare Of The Citizenry: And Well-Being Of Mother Nature?
14.04.2020 LISTEN

Has the time not come for us to stop looking at successful management of our national economy, solely in terms of GDP growth - without considering what actually constitutes the economic activities contributing to that growth: and its impact on common-good-human-welfare and the well-being of both Mother Ghana and Mother Nature?

If, as is currently the case, in the orthodox system of economic management and planning for national development, we are counting the gold sales from galamsayers as part of our GDP growth, and it is resulting in the poisoning of soils, streams, rivers, groundwater and other water bodies, across our homeland Ghana by illegal gold miners, is that not sheer stupidity, and utter madness?

The time has now come for the measurement of what is regarded by society, as successful economic management by governments of the day, to be discussed in terms of its overall impact on the quality of life of our people, and incremental improvements in the living standards of all Ghanaians.

For example, are slums across Ghana being torn down by a sitting President's regime, after new planned green cities have been built, to house slum-dwellers nationwide to promote and increase the resilience of our system - because slums remain hotspots of all manner of dangerous pathogens, even when the majority of the population develop herd-immunity after pandemics, and therefore are seen as posing existential public-health-threats to society at large, which could wipe out our national economy completely?

If any Ghanaian leader's government does that and gets the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to create digital accounts with it, into which GHC200, 000 each are then deposited, as 50-year mortgages, meant to enable every Ghanaian family - regardless of their finances or lack thereof - to own their own homes, in those new green cities - paid for by installment mortgage payments of a minimum of GHC200 (that also count as monthly rent payments), to the BoG, would that not be a better metric for measuring successful management of the economy of Ghana? Haaba.

As that people-centered-policy would definitely result in increased happiness, amongst what is a mostly hardworking and aspirational population - it would be regarded and counted as the most important metric of successful economic development, by the vast majority of Ghanaians: in the new high-level corruption-free post-COVID-19 era, of green low carbon development.

As a people, we need a new kind of politics that seeks the twin-ends of empowering citizens in all strata of society, and preserving and enhancing the natural environment across the length and breadth of our homeland Ghana. Enough is enough.

We must rid ourselves of the old kind of politics, and replace it with a new kind of politics - one underpinned by a focus on the welfare of the citizenry, and promotion of the overall well-being of Mother Nature, by the managers of the national economy. Hmmmm. Yooooo... Eeiiii, Oman Ghana - enti yewieye paaa enei? Asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa!

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