60 Years On; should we have celebrated Ghana’s Independence?

Since 1957, Ghana has been a beacon for economic development and political stability. She broke free from Western colonialism; survived the perils of military rule; strengthened her democracy by keeping leaders honest with the ballot box; and showed strong potential for economic success by using our natural resources as a local and foreign investment tool.

Last week President Akufo-Addo stood before the nation at the Independence Square and spoke of Ghana’s achievement and the prospects for the future. In paying tribute to the founding fathers, he touted the contribution of iconic figures such as Edward Akufo-Addo and K.A. Busia, to name a few, while our erstwhile celebrated leader Nkrumah was relegated to the background of his speech. While this is an unusual reference to the legacy of our forefathers, it does spark a discussion into exploring other parts of our history.

During the festivities, we watched in awe as teachers and students from national schools, police and service men and women marched across the Independence Square with brilliant organization. We also reveled as cultural leaders showed off their traditional performances.

On that day, the African diaspora joined Ghanaians in celebrating our Independence. Nigerians, Ivorians, Togolese and Kenyans alike expressed appreciation for Ghana’s culture in social media spaces, celebrating our cultural similarities and voicing support for Ghana’s continued greatness. African dignitaries and citizens came to see the event in person.

Ghana’s Diamond Jubilee was truly a day for all Africans.

However, when the dust has settled and the pan-African euphoria has subsided, we must ask ourselves: what are we truly commemorating?

Is it our current power generation infrastructure? Where the rolling blackouts have persisted for at least 4 years, which has rendered small Ghanaian businesses unprofitable and created a volatile economic environment?

Is it the growing wealth disparity between the poor and the rich — where the future of wealth distribution will be constructed by an education system that does not teach the subsequent generation to be critical thinkers and problem solvers?

Is it the arrears in payments for teachers, doctors and many other civil servants? And when these civil servants revolt, the government responds by bringing in doctors from Cuba?

Is it the shoddy infrastructure projects undertaken by contractors? Who receive the contracts because of their connection to “big men” in the executive branch, and not the value of the work they are able to put forward?

Is it the influx of Chinese workers into our local economy? Taking over our informal mining industries and illegally running stores in our Makola and Kaneshie markets and attacking any Ghanaians who bring attention to their activities.

In reality, placing more questions in this statement would only serve to overstate the point that the country has been behind in the past 60 years. According to GDP estimates, easily accessible with a Google search, “Ghana and South Korea had about the same annual per capita GDP in 1957; just three decades later, South Korea’s annual purchasing power per head was about 10 times that of Ghana’s — that was in 1987. In 2016, Ghana is not much closer to catching up with South Korea.”

Admittedly, Ghanaians have started to show their agency in issues that directly affect their well-being. Most recently, citizens removed the now ex-President John Mahama, because he failed to enact his mandate in due time. And while that action showed that we are knowledgeable of our power at the ballot box, we must also come to terms with our agency to enact change in our communities. We must connect with one another through the same means through which we engage in heated debates about whether Ghanaian or Nigerian jollof tastes better. (And by the way, the winner is obviously Ghana jollof).

In a 2007 TED Talk George Ayittey explained, “The cheetah generation is a new breed of Africans who prove no nonsense and understand accountability and democracy and Africa’s salvation rests on the back of the cheetah generation.” He also states, “the hippo generation are the ruling elites, stuck in their intellectual past, complaining about imperialism and colonialism, who benefit from the status quo.”

Now more than ever, it is incumbent upon the Ghanaian millennial generation — the most vocal, highest educated, the most passionate — to justify Ghana’s position as the beacon of African democracy, pan-Africanist thought and development.

Will we be the cheetahs of Africa? Taking our country, and by extension, our continent to soaring heights.

Or will we be the hippos of the 21st Century, carrying the sentiments of our unfortunate past into the new age?