Each and every day, the ordinary Ghanaian seems to lose hope in the Ghanaian economy. There is always a never ending list of unfulfilled promises.
The self acclaimed economic messiahs keep promising a better Ghana, yet, there seems to be no significant improvement in the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian.
The change of regimes always look like Ghanaians have jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
Quite recently, the “Ghana Beyond Aid” has run to the IMF for a $3 billion bailout. Meanwhile, Gold production in Ghana annually yields more than twice of that same amount.
Professor Hanke, an applied Economist of the John Hopkins university in the United States of America, has ranked Ghana as one of the miserable countries in the world. He further stated that the major contributing factor to this is the high inflation in Ghana.
This is an undeniable fact as the cost of living has sharply risen and most Ghanaians are thinking of leaving the country to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
Despite the high rate of inflation and struggle of the ordinary citizen to make ends meet, there seems to be a misplacement of priorities by the government.
An instance is the insistence on the construction of a National Cathedral. At this stage in the Ghanaian Economy, this project does not look like one that is in anyway going to alleviate the sufferings of the Ghanaian citizen. However, the government is bent on completing this project despite the fact that there are other pressing needs to be addressed.
Another heartbreaking issue is the amount allocated to each student under the school feeding program. How can GH¢1.20 pesewas feed a student for an entire day in an economy where a sachet of drinking water costs 50 pesewas?.
The food served to these children will not even pass for the food served to pets elsewhere in the world. Despite these meagre amount allocated to feed students, the government still owes the caterers.
Is the government for or against us? How can we ignore fundamental issues as this and yet, keep assuring Ghanaians paradise is within our reach?
Illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has rooted itself in the Ghanaian soil. As the days go by, the destruction this canker is causing to our beloved country keeps increasing.
Not only has drinking water been polluted, lands destroyed, children dropping out of school but there has also been reports that babies in galamsey areas are being born with one eye and some without genitals.
Is this not alarming enough for the government to stop paying lips service and take serious actions to halt the activities of galamsey?
A former minister of state, Professor Frimpong Boateng, earlier made claims of top government officials’ involvement in galamsey.
The President in response instructed the Inspector General of Police to look into the issue. However, the big names mentioned have not been called for interrogations but Professor Frimpong Boateng was arrested and granted a bail of 5million cedis.
He was alleged to have spent GH¢ 320 million when he was the chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, the committee mandated to look into the galamsey menace. What makes his arrest quite disturbing is that it was not made earlier — it was only made after the world renowned surgeon alleged the top governmental officials’ involvement in galamsey.
The question here is, is it a deliberate attempt to scare and quiet the professor?And if the charges levelled against him are true, doesn’t it further expose the deep rooted corruption in this government, a reality the President keeps defending he has appreciably fought?
Most importantly, is this the Better Ghana Agenda they promised us? The Ghana Beyond Aid?