Akua Dansua on way forward for post Ghana@50Akua

By Ebenezer Hanson

The Minority Deputy Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dayi, Hon. Akua Sena Dansua, says much as she is not ignorant of the existence of “The Co-ordinated Programme for Economic and Social Development of Ghana (2003-2012)” which the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) describes as the National Vision, that document is not a National Development Plan.

A National Development Plan, she explains, is a specific framework that any party that comes to power implements irrespective of its manifesto. Such a National Development Plan allows for continuity, while minimizing acrimony among political parties.

Hon. Dansua was speaking in an exclusive with the Public Agenda on the way forward for post Ghana@50 and other related matters.

In addition to the National Development Plan, she recognizes the need for Ghanaians to do away with cultural practices and traditions that impede productivity.

“We must be serious to improve productivity. Our culture and traditions have a debilitating effect on productivity, and we spend too much time on social activities like funerals. Too much time is some times wasted on the opening and closing ceremonies of events and these must be stopped if are to make a headway,” she counseled.

Consequently, she unhesitatingly embraces the clocking system as a means of checking attendance of public officials to work believing that it would help improve productivity.

Hon. Dansua hoped that Ghanaians have done enough introspection to identify some of the problems besetting the nation, which include tribalism, political vengeance, vindictiveness and corruption, hence we can move forward. “ Serious efforts are not being made to punish corruption and there it has become fashionable, ” she lamented
She advised that Ghanaians as a society must learn to recognize and reward people based solely on their outstanding performance, and contribution to society and not because of their affiliation or tribe.

She submitted that the senior citizens of this country “ have brought us thus far and should now be in the background, and empower the youth and competent women to assume leadership position; for they will tell the story in the next 50 years”.

Hon. Dansua also advised the government to learn to listen to the voice of the people and not to disregard caution from the opposition, especially minorities.

In a separate interview, a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, pointed out that the 50 years of our nationhood was used for political consolidation during which we tested political systems like socialism, military regimes and finally settled on multi-party democracy.

Having achieved this the focus of the country for the next 50 years, he advocated, should be on how to achieve economic emancipation and noted that if this eludes us our political independence would be of no value.

“We must have enough GDP so as not to rely so much on handouts, loans and the like from the very people we want to be independent of. You cannot claim to have political independence when you have to go back to the US, UK, Germany, China to fix your power and other similar problems,” he submitted.

He encouraged Ghanaians to break away from the dependency syndrome and believe in themselves for nobody will come to develop the country for us. “We should be made to believe that our success or failure depends upon ourselves. The psyche and make up of the entire Ghanaian have to change in the next 50 years in order to attain the status we want or go beyond that.”