61 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, HOW HAVE WE DONE?

On the 6th of March, 1957, exactly 61 years ago, Ghana became the first African country to free Herself from British colonial rule with Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as its first Prime Minister. Three years later, Ghana became a republic and Dr. Nkrumah became Her first president. As president, Dr. Nkrumah made the CPP (the Convention People's Party, his party) the only political party that was eligible to produce a candidate for elections, thus making Ghana a one party system. Personally, I think that besides leading Ghana to Independence, Dr. Nkrumah chalked some major successes both politically and economically.

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 The Akosombo Hydro Electric Dam, the back bone of the country's electrical power, is one of Dr. Nkruma's numerous infrastructural legacies. From what I have learnt, Dr. Nkrumah took a loan from American Investors to build the Dam despite serious criticisms from his opposition. At the time, many people thought a Dam with such huge capacity was too much for a small country like Ghana and that it was a waste of resources, to say the least. Today, the Akosombo Dam can no longer sustain the over 27 million Ghanaians depending on the government for electrical energy. It would seem to me that Dr. Nkrumah was a man with vision, he saw farther than his contemporaries.  

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Anyhow, he too had his limitations as a leader. There are those who believe that Dr. Nkrumah soon became greedy and power drunk and that his government defeated the very purpose for which the country fought for Independence in the first place. So, on the 24th of February 1966, the Ghana armed forces, together with the police, overthrew Dr. Nkrumah's government. This was the beginning of a series of coup d'etats amidst a couple of democratic elections. This continued until November 3, 1992, when Flt.-Lt- Rawlings who stood on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was elected the first president of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. Twenty-five years down the lane, Ghana currently has her 5th president ( His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo) since the 4th Republic begun with each of them being democratically elected and peacefully transitioned into power. As it stands, many countries in Africa still look up to Ghana as a beacon of hope and successful Democratic Governance.

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The Ghanaian people are very hospitable and cooperative despite the many cultural and ethnic variations among  us. There are currently 5 major ethnic groups in the country: the Akan, Ewe, Mole-Dagbane, Guan, and Ga-Adangbe. Surprisingly, all these people live in peace and harmony while striving hard to build a better country. The 1992 constitution of Ghana also states the freedom of worship and association and so the good people of Ghana are free to worship and associate as they please. The country is also blessed with lots of natural resources than I can count. Ghana is know for her production and export of cocoa, gold, timber and recently oil.

Economically, we are not doing bad as well, lol.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed optimism in Ghana’s economic growth with significant progress expected at the end of the year.
A report released by IMF in April this year has indicated that Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita income for 2015 has increased to US$1,340.4 from the initial US$1,266.1 in 2008.

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All in all, as a young Ghanaian, I definitely wasn't there at the beginning. But if history has thought us anything, it's that it hasn't always been cozy. The journey has been rough and even though we may have come far, there will always be more room for improvement. 

God bless Ghana and God bless you all.

Thanks for stopping by and a Happy Independence Day to all Ghanaians.

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