Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, 2008 CPP presidential candidate
The exercise of economic, political and administrative authority over Ghana by the NDC and NPP administrations at all levels since 1992 leads to one conclusion: “the value is the same”.
It has been a tale of disappointments, un-kept promises, unmet expectations, insensitivity, arrogance and mediocrity spiced with impunity. The NDC and NPP are the two political parties that have governed Ghana in the past three decades with little to show for their stewardship.
Poverty is on the rise, unemployment ever escalating, ignorance systematically entrenched with the help of some misguided media channels giving political shenanigans the avenue to spew political propaganda whose effects they themselves cannot comprehend.
Governance in Ghana has been reduced to “anything goes”. We deal with issues as they come by the day. There is no long-term strategic plan that points to the destination we are heading. This trend fails the test of leadership 101, where leaders are required to provide direction for nation building.
Curiously, it is not the case that Ghana lacks examples of good visionary leadership. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, founder and first President of Ghana provided the first and perhaps the most successful example when he successfully gave direction for accelerated decolonialisation of Ghana and Africa.
Somewhere in Dr. Nkrumah’s vision translated into his seven-year development plan was the goal of accelerated industrialisation, which informed his decision to build the Akosombo and Bui Hydro dams with the Ghana Atomic Energy facility as back up. The founder of Ghana established the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission to generate sufficient energy on sustainable basis to power the industries that would transform Ghana from a third world into a developed country. We have the example.
After Dr. Nkrumah, successive heads of state came to “lead” but failed to provide the national vision that would drive the national development effort; a vision that translates into “Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound” (SMART) goals, that serve as the basic national agenda for every head of state, stakeholders as well as each and every individual Ghanaian; a vision which must be prosecuted with a sense of urgency.
It is a matter of grave concern that after President Rawlings’s “vision 2020” which became blurred with jaundice and President Kufuor’s “zero tolerance for corruption” which died before it was born, current President Mills is running “A Better Ghana Agenda” an “agenda” which does not meet the standard vision requirement but is being misrepresented as a vision all over the place.
What is the better Ghana agenda? How do we get there? What are the signposts which assure us that we are on the road to a better Ghana? How would we know if we are on the right path? How would we know when we get there? These questions need to be answered if we are to develop the appropriate strategy and get the cooperation of all or at least most stakeholders to make the agenda a reality.
In 2008, the CPP manifesto “NEW DAWN NEW VISION” presented to Ghanaians a synopsis of how and when Ghana could achieve the national transformation that has eluded us since 1966. In that CPP plan, the direction was clearly articulated from present into the future. For instance, on page 22 of the CPP manifesto, it is stated;
“In order to manage the economy well, the CPP will do the following:
National Development Planning: Produce and have Parliament adopt the constitutionally mandated Coordinated Programme for the Social and Economic Development of Ghana. All development frameworks, such as the Millennium Development Goals, GPRS, and NEPAD will be pursued within this Programme as the first step towards introducing focus and consistency into the management of our economy. The National Development Planning Commission will be strengthened to play this important constitutional role effectively”
Today, over one-and-half years after coming into office, the NDC administration has made the National Development Planning Commission redundant. NEPAD, APRM, MDG, Vision 2020, Vision 2015, GPRS have all vanished from the national discourse. The NDC’s priority seems to be who leads their party in the 2012 general election; about greedy bastards, mental and physical capacity to be president. Is there any political or moral justification for NDC/NPP to present themselves to the people of Ghana for election into office again?
The CPP proposed a strategy of using state power and resources including state purchasing power to positively initiate and trigger sustainable economic growth. It provided for a made-in- Ghana economic, industrial, educational and human resource development strategy informed by the Ghanaian milieu, needs and aspirations. It was the best deal among the lot.
In the manifesto, the CPP proposed and continue to call for a multi-party national agenda that would stand the test of time. The national agenda platform aims at mobilising the people to buy shares in the vision and strategy that when implemented would realistically improve the welfare of Ghanaians. For the recently revealed reasons the people did not listen.
It is time for Ghanaians to stop for a moment, consider how far the NDC/NPP have brought the nation, compare it to where it ought to be and demand true Change. The change we can feel in our pockets. There is overwhelming evidence that Ghanaians feel betrayed by successive governments. They are tired of promises not delivered and are disgusted at the lack of vision and innovation conveniently but falsely called “lack of resources” by the same leaders who are feeding fat on the nation’s resources and taking the wrong decisions to the detriment of the people.
In the last few weeks many Ghanaians have declared their disappointment in the style of governance in the country and have warned that they will not vote again. While these declarations are understandable given the unmet expectations, they reflect the need for a political party other than NDC/NPP; a party that is capable of delivering the change Ghanaians need with a sense of urgency.
While this change is good for Ghanaians who would be the ultimate beneficiaries, it would not come easily. It is an extremely intensive and highly demanding effort. The third party, CPP, would need to up its game, look beyond its internal and personality differences and present to the people of Ghana, a CPP that is ready to govern Ghana again.
CPP leaders must as a matter of principle understand the responsibility ahead. It cannot be business as usual. When the CPP was overthrown in 1966, the military ruled and handed over to the UP administration in 1969. The UP administration was short-lived because the military came back. By 1979 when the military handed over to the PNP, the “business as usual leadership” made it easy for another military intervention.
Having gone full cycle and back to square one; this writer is convinced that the good people of Ghana would choose the CPP over NDC/NPP in the next election. But when the people of Ghana give CPP the opportunity to govern Ghana again, what leadership would we see and or experience. Would it be visionary innovative leadership or status quo leaders and managers who blame their tools for non-performance?
The people of Ghana are watching and would choose CPP when they see the change within CPP. For that reason it is important for all Comrades who wish to lead, to pay heed to the call to duty and begin to show the leadership that would convince Ghanaians that indeed the time for CPP has come; and by implication the time has come for Ghana to catch up again in the “rush towards development”.
With all its resources, Ghana should not be groping in the dark. Ghana needs visionary innovative leadership to catch up; and the CPP, in this writer’s view, should be chosen over NDC/NPP to deliver.
ARTICLE BY: WILLIAM DOWOKPOR
