[ 2012-06-17 ]

Is foreign aid the only solution to Ghana's lingering problems
Time and time again Ghana has benefitted from
numerous aids in the agricultural sector
ostensibly to boost production. But very little
has been achieved in this regard. One invariably
wonders why this is so. The big question is why
have some countries made it and Ghana hasn't? I am
sure what you are thinking may not be different
from what I'm thinking right now. Our leaders have
always been prompt without hesitation in begging
for help outside and when our benefactors have
been sympathetic and generous to us we tend to do
any of these three–Mismanage, abuse or misuse. Why
can't Ghana take clues from sister countries like
India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Brazil (our new
benefactor), and all the other countries who have
made meaningful strides in the field of
agriculture and other socio-economic domains.

The million dollar question is, 'how did these
sister countries do it?' It is very simple. These
countries have gone through cultural rebirth and
political re-orientation. They have also resolved
to look after what belongs to them and do not shy
away from exposing or bringing to account any
officials elected or appointed who pilfer or abuse
their offices. The key issue here is there is the
need for dedicated officials who are selfless,
honest, fair, firm and above all trustworthy. If
Ghanaians choose or elect people who lack or fall
short of the above qualities then we shall always
be in our isolated enclave and will witness no
development in our country but rather wallow in
abject poverty characterized by systematic decay
of our basic infrastructure and lack of
foresight.

In the recent past Ghana benefitted from a similar
assistance from Japan where a number of
agricultural machinery were brought into the
country to enable farmers improve their yield. But
what happened? Most of the tractors found their
way into the possessions of government officials
and people who had nothing to do with farming. The
excuse we were given was that farmers could not
afford the machinery. However, the machines in
question were heavily subsidized for some of the
officials to be able to afford as many as between
two and five each. The question I want to ask is
this. Who has the power to challenge these
officials when they misconduct themselves like
that? If people elected into Parliament embroil
themselves with corruption and cannot address such
malfeasance then who can?

The media probably the only institution capable of
highlighting such issues rather engage themselves
in devoting much of their air time and print
spaces fashioning frivolous and boring debates
allowing high profile entities to bring the inky
profession into disrepute. Now that the National
Media Commission is partly benefitting from a
European Union's £7-million grant (modernghana.com
12 June'12) it is about time part of their share
was used to reshape these institutions to live up
to expectation.

To ensure that these array of machines are put to
good uses the VP who led the delegation to Brazil
for this package, should make sure that a
committee of experts is set up to see to the
effective distribution of the machinery. It will
be most beneficial if all the Agricultural
Institutions in the country are given some of
these machines to train their students and local
farmers on how to use them and also to embark on
extensive farming projects to sustain themselves.
Local farmers should be made to have easy access
to these machines when they need them. Government
should also re-consider looking into the
possibilities of re-establishing Community Farms
(formally State Farms) in all the major farming
areas where most of the youth and the unemployed
will be involved in extensive farm projects. This
can bring jobs to most school leavers who may not
want to continue with their education thereby
discouraging them from drifting into the big
cities looking for jobs which virtually don't
exist. Well established private farmers should
also be helped with loans through the Agric.
Development Banks and other financial institutions
to acquire some of these machines to expand their
farms to increase their produce. This practice is
common and consistent with most of the advanced
countries. That is why food is always in abundance
in these countries and the excess exported to the
developing (struggling) countries.

The way forward is decision makers must be
responsible for any actions that they take. Ghana
can achieve this feat if only we start
transforming now. We should always remember that
our achievement can only be measured by what we
have accomplished and not by what we have
attempted. The media should play their part by
scrutinizing and bringing to light any wrong-doing
in government and all that are involved in
directing the affairs of this dear country. By
this I mean including politicians, all
departmental heads, community leaders, political
appointees, religious leaders and all in positions
of trust and power. The political climate in the
country now gives the media power and freedom to
achieve this. They should be unbiased and see to
it that anything that belongs to the state comes
to the state and not ending up in the long pockets
of the selfish few. There is still chance we can
achieve the status of Brazil, India and the other
states who have gone through the same
transformation to reach this level. Ghanaians can
no longer sit back and take what comes to us. We
have to go after what we want. We cannot climb the
hill by just looking at it. We've got to do
something. What we need is concerted positive
action NOW!

Douglas Chartey - UK

Source - Douglas Chartey - UK

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