On the day Ghana celebrated her 56th Anniversary, I was very careful not to wish anybody happy anniversary. I didn’t want someone to break my jaws so I choose to stay indoors.

I could not watch anything on television either because my area had no electricity on the day of the celebration. We were having our turn of power rationing.

We fought for independence from the British colonialist because we said we were now capable of managing our affairs. The question to ask however is that, are we able to manage our affairs after 56 years of independence?

When the NPP was in government, things were better as compared to now. They introduced such policies as National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Youth in Employment Programme (NYEP), School Feeding Programme, Free maternal care for pregnant women, the Metro Mass Transport System, Capitation grant and also embarked on physical infrastructural developments which were unprecedented in the history of Ghana. Ghana was seen to be on the right path until the NDC told heaps of lies to take over the affairs of this country. When they took off they became double guilty of all the allegations they levelled against the NPP government. For instance, they accused the NPP of corruption but ended up paying huge judgement debts to a man who admitted he had no business with government to benefit from the payment of judgement debts.

Investigations conducted by journalists in Ghana have revealed that even the social intervention policies that the NPP introduced to help the people are bedevilled with corruption. The National Youth in Employment Programme is faced with deep rooted corruption to the extent that they have been asked not to introduce new modules again.

With the health Insurance Scheme, members of staff are reported to have colluded in one way or the other with service providers to dupe the state of scarce money on daily basis. No wonder recently some staff of the NHIS have been sacked in the Northern region for alleged corruption.

Ghana currently can at best be described as a republic of rationing. We have water rationing, employment rationing, electricity rationing, gas rationing, toilet rationing, trotro rationing etc. There seem to be rationing in every facet of the lives of Ghanaians now. No wonder a section of Ghanaians were calling for the boycott of the 56th independence celebration. What are we celebrating? We produce oil yet we sleep in darkness. We have a regime that has officially borrowed more than all regimes put together since independence yet what the money has been used for cannot be accounted for. I am from Tamale North and it is sad to report that, 56 years after independence, communities like Gbayamli, Gbalahi, Kpentaliga, Nyanshegu, Kalpohin, and Nanton-Kpawomo have no electricity, good drinking water, toilets and good roads.

With Kpentaliga in particular, they don’t even have a single school 56 years after Independence so what should they celebrate? I hope nobody is saying they should celebrate the unacceptable deprivation that has engulfed them. The budget statement has just been presented to parliament and I don’t even see hope for most communities in Northern region including Tamale-North. I have had the opportunity of touring most communities in Northern region and most times I weep when I see the naked deprivation in those communities around the region. With the problems enumerated above you see I was right to stay away from wishing anybody happy independence anniversary celebration. Bye and very best.

Akilu Sayibu

Email: Akilu.sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk