*PRESS STATEMENT BY ORGANIZED YOUTH OF ASHANTI (OYA) ON THE REMEMBRANCE OF 31ST DECEMBER 1981 REVOLUTION.*

We wish to congratulate the gallant soldiers and the fearless civilians who made the 31st DECEMBER, 1981 REVOLUTION possible and triumphant!

It is our hope that as we enjoy the 18th year of Ghana’s multi-party democracy, our fellow country men and women would stand firm by the truth and resist any undemocratic tendencies by being supportive of DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONS even within our various political parties.

Some unscrupulous personalities and groupings have made it point to twist the facts and make it appropriate to refer to this consecrated day as the dark days. But, the facts as happened and supported with empirical (voices and videos) evidence exposes them to shameful nakedness in the face of the truth.

The truth must be told, in as much as the history of Ghana cannot be told without the remarkable accomplishments of the famous Jerry John Rawlings, so it stands that the Rawlings legacy, a legacy that is far greater than the man himself, would not be complete without the mere mention of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, and most notably, the Provisional National Defense Council, and the National Democratic Congress.

Never again should we look on as our fascist opposition re-packages our remarkable history as though they would ever have our interest at heart. Knowing how shifty the UP/NPP is with “the word” we are not surprised that the apparent truth is the very last thing they would ever entertain for they know very well that it would never benefit them.

As we all know, the truth shall always stand no matter the direction it is attacked!!

The PNDC met a lot of challenges and yet corrected the situation – chalking monumental achievements. The successes of the REVOLUTION can not be exhausted in just a piece – emphasis for the purpose of this piece will be on ENERGY.

From 1982 to 1984, Ghana experienced the most severe drought in the recorded history of the Volta Basin affecting power generation from our hydro resources. Total inflow into the reservoir over the 3-year period dropped to less than 15% of the normal long-term inflow.

Even though the Kpong hydroelectric project groundbreaking Ceremony had been observed in November 30, 1977, it was abandoned without any further attention until July 1, 1982 when the project was officially inaugurated by the Head of State, H.E Jerry John Rawlings. And all Generating Units commissioned on December 15, 1982 to increase the total output of VRA to 1,180 MW

Also, in 1988, a study was initiated and completed, to determine the extent of the retrofit work required, and in 1989, the Akosombo Generation Station Retrofit Project was started on 6 turbines, that did not only replaced the turbines but also increased total output from 912MW to 1020MW.

The upshot of this huge capacity building of our hydro resources was that; ELECTRICITY, which prior to the advent of the PNDC, was limited to only the urban communities and was enjoyed by less than 20 percent of the total population (according to statistics from VRA), had been made available to all regional and district capitals, and their surrounding towns and villages in our country.

The PNDC achieved 11years of consistent economic development and stability, stemming from the restructuring of policies and implementation of investor friendly policies. Through this, Ghana enjoyed remarkable foreign direct investment and economic aid facilities.

The successful implementation of the PNDC’s Economic Recovery, Economic Stabilization, Trade Liberation and Structural Adjustment Programs had not only brought the national economy from the brink of total collapse but had not also restored international confidence in Ghana’s development potential, with numerous benefits to the country and its people. For example, Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) which had stagnated at 1 percent of GDP from 1970 – 1982 had grown to 6 percent of GDP by 1992.

The pragmatic and Progressive fiscal and monetary policies of the PNDC had not only helped the recovery of the strategic sectors of the economy like Cocoa, Gold and Timber but had also promoted diversification in new commercial and export crops like banana and pineapple.

Before PNDC, and shortly after assumed office, food shortage and famine was prevalent (Go Slow 1983), but aggressive measures were implemented to avert such crisis.

The previous empty shops had been filled with all basic consumer goods. The terminology – HOARDING AND PROFETEERING was expunged form our books!! The good people of this country were no longer obliged to either go to Togo or Ivory Coast or even beg Ministers of State for chits for their supplies of toiletries, edible oil, bread and butter etc.

The PNDC carried out a smooth integration of hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians expelled from Nigeria in 1983. Refugees were accommodated at El-Wak Stadium and systematically and strategically moved to their respective families and hometowns.

In the face of all these achievements, the PNDC kept faith with Ghanaians and upheld the principles of PROBITY and ACOUNTABILITY.

We therefore entreat all Ghanaians to take lessons from the excesses of the PNDC that engaging in hoarding and profiteering (KALABULE) is punishable by any means.

We should all remember the motive for 31st December – “TOTAL LIBERATION BY ANY MEANS’.

LONG LIVE GHANA!

LONG LIVE NDC!

LONG LIVE THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE REVOLUTION!!!!!

SGD:

BROGYA GENFI

(FOUNDER)

egenfi@yahoo.com; +233 249 582140