DO NOT BELITTLE GHANAIAN INTELLIGENCE
Much as one accepts that politicians go to extremes to win elections, much as one believes parties have the freedom to convince voters and much as one admits that the 2008 election has assumed a higher intellectual dimension than previously, and promises keen competition, one cannot ignore some of the sly advertisements and the smear campaign for the implications are simply too dangerous to laugh off. The ideology behind these advertisements calls for scrutiny since they just might become government policies.
Currently, there is more than one advertisement lamenting the impoverished standards of Ghanaians: “There is no money in people’s pockets”. The actors emphasize that no government has drawn as much international funds as the NPP Government. The parting message is that Ghana’s economy is in a shambles. The naivety of the advertisements stems from the fact that they put the individual above the nation. They preach immediate satisfaction rather than the long term benefits. There is no vision nor thought of nation building professed in the advertisements. A mere political gimmick!
The party which initiated the advertisement has failed to appreciate the social structures being established in the country: Health Insurance, micro finance programmes, human resource development, infrastructure, efforts to improve health, water, sanitation and the educational systems, the school-feeding programme, the capitation grant, above all, the strengthening of the cedi, to name these. Whatever achievements made in theses areas could never have taken place if the funds had been channelled into individual pockets rather than into the projects. Ghana is faring relatively well in the face of global financial crisis because of the prudent management of funds. Because most of these structures are now being put in place, there are inevitable hitches which will improve over time. Sadly, naively and shamefully, the advertisements in question trivialize these structures upon which solid national growth and development rest.
The most horrifying and heart-wrenching fact is that these advertisements are coming from the camp of an aspiring presidential candidate whose knowledge in economics and nation building is rated very high. A critical-mind cannot help but ask: What is this candidate going to offer Ghanaians? Is he not going to placate the sycophants with our hard-earned reserves? President Julius Nyerere has a story:
An African minister visited a colleague in Asia and was impressed by the man’s lavish home. “How did you afford all this on a minister’s salary?, he asked. Pointing through his living room window, his host said: “Do you see that large bridge in the distance? “Yes” replied the African. “Well, part of its budget came my way”, the Asian explained. The next year, reciprocating the visit, the Asian asked the same question. “Do you see that road down in the valley?” asked the African. “No” he replied. “I see nothing”. “Exactly, explained the African. “I financed this house instead”
Food for thought for those who care!
Dinah Amankwah
P. O. Box B.15
Kumasi.
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