Veteran Ghanaian journalist, Kwesi Pratt has focused on the many languages Ghana has and how it could support nation building or otherwise.

“In a population of 35 million, about 40 indigenous languages are becoming extinct,” he said on Good Morning Ghana monitored by MyNewsGh.

“We are estimated to have about 75 languages in Ghana. How do you build a nation out of this diversity?”

According to Pratt, this was the core challenge confronting leaders at independence, how to unite dozens of ethnic groups under one national identity.

He argued that conversations around political structures at the time were driven by the desire to forge unity, not by personal ambition.

“At a certain point there was thought about how to evolve a structure that brought everybody on board,” he explained, suggesting that the push for broad-based governance was seen as a practical response to fragmentation.

Pratt also drew parallels with modern political debates. He pointed to ongoing calls for a single national development plan that all governments would be compelled to follow.

“What are they telling us?” he asked. “If you say every government must follow one development plan, then you are arguing for one orientation.”

In his view, critics who condemn past political models while advocating uniform national planning today should reflect more carefully on the implications of their own arguments.