The first black American President, Barack Hussein Obama once said: “Even in the face of impossible odds, those who love their country can change it.” Ghana needs to be fixed and this NPP government is fixing it gradually.
It is instructive to note that the devastating effect of COVID-19 is not only on the Ghanaian economy but economies worldwide. President Akufo-Addo has said there will be no salary increment for him, the Vice President, and Ministers of State this year. The move, according to the President, is part of the executive’s contribution towards the drive to rake in revenue for the state following the economic devastation caused by COVID-19.
The current situation under the pandemic has riled every country into severe economic and social stress. Even the most stable and erstwhile strong economies have been tested beyond normal. We are not in normal times and this has had a serious impact on every economy. Whilst most countries have had negative economic growth Ghana had positive growth, but we like all the major economies have challenges which we agree need fixing and it is our collective responsibility to fix our country and recover from the pandemic. Almost every country is seeing petrol increases and also instituting measures to increase taxes, not just us.
The NDC was in office for 27yrs, with military dictatorship and democracy combined they could not fix the country. In fact, they took us to HIPC in 2000, for NPP to rescue GHANA under President J A Kufuor and again took us to another IMF programme and DUMSOR in 2016.
The expectations of Ghanaians are understandably high and always higher under an NPP government and, as such, they expect NPP under Akufo-Addo to fix in 8yrs what NDC couldn’t in 16yrs (or 27yrs if you add PNDC).
It is ordinarily a tough challenge to ask any government to wave the magic wand to fix things with the world facing the pandemic of COVID-19 and its devastating effect on economies everywhere.
But, as the President said at his maiden state of the nation address in 2017, he was not elected to complain but to find and apply solutions. That is exactly what he set out to do from the word go and doing so systematically and with urgency. He certainly won’t be able to fix it all in 8yrs but the fundamental issues to do with our education, health, transportation infrastructure and industrialization are priority areas that are all been given far greater attention now and the kind of strong attention never before seen under any previous Govt.
The numbers are there for all to see. We should also all be asking ourselves what are we doing us citizens to help fix the nation? Are we paying our taxes? Are we aiding or fighting against corruption? Are we keeping our communities clean? Are we being responsible parents or children? Are we performing our duties well as employers or employees? Are we adding to the problems or adding to Ghana’s betterment?
Fixing Ghana is the responsibility of all of us. When a government fails to perform, we are free to kick it out after 4yrs. But when citizens fail to live up to their responsibilities, they remain citizens and forever.
In a nutshell, NPP Governments happen to be in power during the two most severe crises the World has seen in the last Century.
Kufuor had to get the bashing during the 2007/2008 Financial crisis. NPP was voted out eventually but now some people refer to his era as the best ever.
Imagine if we had the NDC in power during these crises. Let’s learn to appreciate the times when lamenting before we sell our colored TV for Black and white.
Let’s all help fix Ghana!
#LetsFixGhanaTogether
Source: Sarfo Jnr
