Is There Any Hope?

Poverty however the magnitude, is the principal factor behind ever-increasing crimes, pitiable standards of health and education just to mention but few. It completely destabilises the foundation of an economy and Ghana of course cannot escape mention when it comes to signatories to the “League of Poverty Struck Countries”.

Interestingly, poverty in among rural Ghanaians has progressively assumed a state of normalcy. It is apparently no news again when people go hungry or are held incarcerated by the despoiling impacts of the never-ending poverty and the myriad of dimensions that accompany it. This explains why it can be said without any further blinking that, it does not take a genius to appreciate the fact that, if chronic poverty continues to pervade the nook and cranny of the country, the poor would be left with no option than to perpetually sing of swimming in a sea of endless vulnerability. Against this backdrop, Ghana has for more than a decade now been involved in the battle to developing and implementing meaningful development strategies to arrest the ugly faces of poverty and create fertile grounds for wealth creation. Noticeable policy documents at actualising the overriding goals of creating wealth and toning down poverty in the country are the GHANA VISION 2020, GPRS I, GPRS II and not long ago, the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA, 2010-2013). At the international front, a set of goals directed at similar goals were created by the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to address inequalities in income, access to basic social services and gender disparities. Nonetheless, the fight against poverty among rural Ghanaians has been considerably inadequate to equate improved standards of living. This explains why it is indubitably factual to assert that, poverty has gained inevitable pedigree not only in Ghana but in most countries in the West African Sub Region. To some extent, one would not be wrong to judge that this revelation is a soothing one in the sense that the nous of urgency of all stakeholders will be precipitated to fighting this menace.

The question that however continues to delay leaving the minds of many Ghanaians is the issue of whether or not the preparation of development policy frameworks is enough to usher Ghana into becoming the long-nurtured dream of a Middle Income Country in the not-too- distant future. But for phraseology, expansion in the number of thematic areas in the new policy document as well as the inclusion of ‘Oil and Gas’ as a thematic area, one can say with considerable certainty that the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) is similar in policy goals as the past development frameworks. There is no denying the fact that, the new policy document is weighty with excellent policy interventions and has as its targets the generation of employment opportunities for the urban and rural poor, rural infrastructure development and the creation of self-employment opportunities through the provision of complementary services to the enterprising poor, the document will achieve results that would reflect little on Ghanaians if its implementation is not complemented by attitudinal re-orientation and consistency in focus in the implementation of the strategies contained therein.

Public actions must be driven by a passionate commitment to wealth creation and poverty alleviation. The best offer a country that has systemic discrimination and institutional injustices can provide to the populace is a world of perpetual inequalities in opportunities in income and access to basic life-supporting services. It is heartrending to realise how poverty has flourished and exacerbated the conditions of the vulnerable in most rural areas of the country as a result of misplaced priorities and the misallocation and misappropriation of funds meant to provide a cutting edge for development.

Obviously, Ghana is the only country we have and there is certainly no one to develop it better than Ghanaians themselves. To say the development of a nation lies solely in the hands of the government is to commit a blunder. However, concerted efforts of both public and private institutions, Politicians, Chiefs, Professionals, Students and the ultimate beneficiaries of development interventions are required on board. It is with this that we can anticipate to see Ghana ascend higher heights of growth and change in the desired direction. Thank you for making it a point to contribute your quota to the development of Ghana.

Ishak Mohammed Bsc. Development Planning IV Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi- Ghana.ishakmohammed61@yahoo.com