Forward To "A New Agenda For Ghana" -Kennedy

Next March, Ghana will be fifty.

In our half-century of existence, there have been achievements and failures. On the positive side;

- We have transferred power from a President of one party to a President of another party peacefully.

- We have avoided the destructive civil wars that have destroyed most of our neighbors.

- We have qualified for the finals of the World Cup.

On the other side;

- Millions of our citizens still remain without gainful employment

- There is too much partisanship, tribalism and corruption leading to too many insults and too much mistrust.

- There too much of a spirit of dependency both on the part of individual citizens and our government.

“A NEW AGENDA FOR GHANA” by Okyere Bonna is the collective cry of a generation for change. It reproduces and explores the opinions, reputations and attitudes of a wide range of Ghanaians. The views explored are varied and include those of established parties and candidates as well as new parties and candidates.

What motivates my politics is the Ghanaian equivalent of what Americans felt when they heard “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do---- ask what you can do for your country” from President Kennedy. I believe as Nkrumah did that we could have done in a decade what it had taken others a century to achieve but alas---

Thus I am inpatient with where Ghana is at the moment and know that we can and must do better!

While some have given up on our established traditional parties, I am running proudly on the ticket of the NPP. This is because, first, it has by far the most democratic and modernizing tendencies.

Second, the NPP government has been far better than the NDC government that it replaced. It has stabilized the unstable nation that was inherited from the NDC.

Thus while I concede that we can do better, President Kufuor’s administration has laid some foundations to build on for the future.

I believe our priorities for the future must include the following;

- Reforming our government to make it more effective and responsive to ordinary people.

- Creating wealth through accelerated growth with the benefits of growth shared as widely as possible.

I believe that governments cannot on their own create significant numbers of well-paying jobs; their best role is to create the enabling conditions for job creation by removing burdensome regulations emplacing tax incentives.

- Creating a place at our national table for Ghanaians in the Diaspora because I am convinced that they are the vital force that will help transform our economy and our nation.

-Making our people healthy by focusing on proactive healthcare rather than illness-care.

- Aggressive and relentless application of appropriate technologies to transform our society.

While pursuing these policy priorities, we must clean our national body-politic of the three evils of corruption, extreme partisanship and tribalism. Our national conversation is too often characterized by insults rather than respect.

With these priorities, we can build a nation filled with pride and the conviction that the difficult work of rebuilding our great nation is the responsibility, primarily of Ghanaians.

I have pledged to run a campaign based on ideas, vision and compassion. It is my hope that my lasting contribution will to help move our politics to one based on ideas, vision and temperament and away from the politics of insults, tribalism and longevity.

Let all those who aspire to lead our nation think of the interests of the many who have not and how to prepare for the next generation rather than the next elections.

That way our nation, as Nkrumah said would move “forward ever and backwards never”

A “New Agenda for Ghana” is the beginning of a long conversation and we are indebted to Okyere Bonna for starting it. Let us all join it!