Features
Unity and economic development
Unity is strength
The world as we know constitutes one huge unit but is made up of different countries, each with its own culture and tradition, aimed at pursuing different forms of agenda with the aim of achieving their respective national objectives.
Each of the countries of the world seeks to achieve peace and unity in order to realise its own peculiar economic and developmental agenda. As each country succeeds in attaining its developmental agenda, the world as a whole attains development. This is because all parts of the country begin to attain development at the same time or even at different times, making the world attain a certain level of development in totality.
When we take Ghana as a unit of the globe, we begin to realise that, as a country, Ghana has its own developmental agenda. The developmental agenda can be attained when all parts of the country known as Ghana come together in unity for the attainment of a common purpose of economic development. This economic development cannot come about easily, but within a framework of unity that will see to it that the productive parts of the different sections of the country are maximised in output so that, in totality, a higher standard of living can be achieved.
As of now, Ghana is made up of 16 regions, each of which is very important as far as the developmental agenda is concerned. The regions have their own resources, which, when harnessed very well, can go a long way toward promoting economic growth and development for all Ghanaians. What this means is that every part of the country is very important and ought to contribute to the totality of the agenda for national development.
None of the 16 regions can stand alone on their own, so all resources will have to be put together and blended in a manner that will lead to nothing but rapid growth.
For example, new iron deposits have been discovered in the Oti Region, and these deposits are promising in the sense that they are of the highest quality for transaction. Such deposits can contribute to the construction industry in the country and elsewhere.
Even though it is found in the Oti Region, it is meant to help in the total development of the entire country. Proceeds from these iron deposits can be used for the development of not only the people of Oti but all Ghanaians in the country.
It is for this reason that each of the regions of Ghana constitutes an important unit that must join all other regions and contribute to the welfare of all Ghanaians. For example, the bauxite, manganese, gold, diamond, oil, and other essential deposits found in various parts of the country are used to develop not only a section of the country but, indeed, all parts of the entity known as Ghana. This explains why national elections are organised for the entire country from time to time to empower qualified residents to vote and make choices for the leader of the country, for the parliamentarians who represent them, and also for all levels of leadership that are brought into being through elections for the smooth governance of the entire country.
The essential point to note here is that we need to pursue aggressive national unity that will help promote all essential economic dimensions to fulfill the needs and aspirations of the country. It is important to keep this in mind, so we cannot run away from this fact.
All Ghanaians have their economic and social needs at various levels of their lives, and all these needs ought to be met in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of everyone in this noble country.
When the country becomes divided, as we see from time to time in our national politics, it does not help matters much because it slows down progress. Every Ghanaian needs rapid socioeconomic development, so we need to think about making the right choices politically so as to commit ourselves to the smooth process of development.
The vigorous nature with which threats are issued to people in parliament on national developmental issues has become a major issue of concern to peace-loving people in the country.
The decision of a section of our parliamentarians to flex their muscles at one another, particularly political opponents, threatening mayhem and brimstone of fire, is mind-boggling.
The developed countries of the world did not emerge in their present status instantly but had to go through a hard process of struggle before getting to their present stage. Progress cannot be made easily, so we should always bear this in mind, irrespective of whether our preferred political party is in power or not.
Various administrations in this country since independence have contributed their lot to the national developmental agenda. What the Convention Peoples Party achieved immediately after independence is meant for all Ghanaians, so we need to recognise things as such.
Even the military governments that we have had in this country have contributed in some way, in spite of their lapses. However, we have learnt a lot from the lapses of these governments.
What this means is that, having gone through various forms of political and economic experiences, we now know what is good for us, so once we decide that a certain government should be put in place to govern this country, we need to give it the needed support so that they can fly the flag of Ghana to a very high level of development. Today, the leader of the country, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is a Christian, while the Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia is a Moslem. Similarly, Parliament is also made up of people of different faiths, but together we are moving forward as a people, encouraging one another to achieve the ultimate. This is what we need in this country.
Thus, threats of mayhem from political opponents and the desire to run down certain groups of people in this country because of political differences do not augur well for the entire country. Ghana is made up of different kinds of people in terms of religion, ethnicity, cultural practices, and so on, but we all need to recognise one another as important and move on in life. The free SHS and promotion of free Technical Vocational Education and Training are very good, so we should not find ways of running them down. In the same way, the reorganisation of the banking sector has helped to increase confidence in that sector. Even though this is good, certain people are looking at it through their political lenses and falsely claiming that they are not good simply because some of their friends and cronies dishonestly went for assistance from the Bank of Ghana to falsely support what they described as their banking services.
The banking reforms resulted in the consolidation and amalgamation of some of the banks, with some people being laid off to ensure efficiency. These are the results of the banking reforms, so we need to acknowledge this and support punishment for all those who helped to bring about this mess.
In essence, we need national unity in this country for the promotion of our national economic agenda so that what is good for us all can be enhanced for the good of each of us. Without unity, the economic agenda cannot be vigorously pursued, and this is why we all need to come together in spite of our differences to pursue our common national socioeconomic agenda.
May God help us in the attainment of our national aspiration in line with our National Pledge and National Anthem for the economic good of the country.
Email address/whatsApp number of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
