Ghana has not attained economic freedom 60 years after its independence, contrary to what its founding fathers had desired, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.
Mr Akufo-Addo described the situation as “sad”, saying: “We have run out of excuses and it is time to set Ghana to rights and get our country to where it should be.”
“At independence, the popular slogan was to seek first the political kingdom and all other things would be added. We assumed and, indeed, we expected that rapid economic development would follow the political freedom that we achieved. Sadly, the economic dividend that was meant to accompany our freedom has still not materialised,” Mr Akufo-Addo said at Ghana’s 60th Independence Day anniversary at the Black Star Square in Accra on 6 March.
“Sixty years after those heady days, too many of our people continue to wallow in unacceptable poverty. After 60 years, we have run out of excuses and it is time to set Ghana to rights and get our country to where it should be. The challenge before us is to build our economy and generate a prosperous, progressive, and dignified life for the mass of our people. Hard work, enterprise, creativity and a consistent fight against corruption in public life would bring the transformation we seek.”
He, however, expressed the hope that Ghana had a bright future and can achieve its goals when “we move and act as a united people”.
Mr Akufo-Addo called on Ghanaians to unite to quicken the vision of achieving economic development. “We must take pride in our diversity by all means, but the Ghanaian must always rise above the ethnic or sectional interest. We have a bright future and we must mobilise all our resources and all our strengths, here and in the Ghanaian diaspora, to get to that Promised Land faster,” the president continued.
As has been the tradition over the years, there was a march past of schoolchildren, security services and the unions at the Independence Square.
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