Is Ghana Really Independent?

Ghana is about to celebrate her 56th independence anniversary on the 6th of March, 2013. It seems it has become an annual ritual whereby more lip service is given to the development of the country. Impressive parades would be held in the nation’s capital, Accra and in all the regional capitals across the country. School children would be made to stand in the sun all in the name of honoring mother Ghana’s heroes and heroines who helped in the struggle for independence. But one may ask, what struggle went on in Ghana? If you compare our so called independence struggle to the struggle in Zimbabwe, Algeria, Mozambique and some of the African countries, we did not go through any struggle at all. Yet still we put so much emphasis on the word “struggle” when we are commemorating Ghana’s attainment of independence from the British colonial masters. Fast forward to our modern times, what sort of independence are we celebrating? How has the various sectors of the economy fared for the past 56 years? Why do we still rely on external loans to propagate the development agenda of the country? Why are we still struggling with the educational system? Have we been able to provide basic amenities like water and electricity for the citizens of our dear nation? What about all the academic terrorism going on in our tertiary institutions, preventing the youth of this country from moving up the academic ladder? When will that end for Ghana to properly develop? Have we been able to manage the issue of sanitation which has become an albatross which has hung around the necks of the various governments and current one? As citizens, do we still litter our environment and later call on the government to come to our aid? As civil servants, do we still go to work late, spend the whole day working lotto, take government property home and also close early from work whilst we still put pressure on the government to increase our wages? As law enforcement officers, do we still take bribes and pretend not to have seen a crime being committed or a faulty vehicle being allowed to pass by? As government officials, do we still indulge in corrupt activities which later end up tarnishing the image of the country on the international stage? Why can’t we grow our indigenous industries so as to produce most of the items that are imported into the country? Do we still allow contractors to do shoddy work and go scott free? As a government, why do we wrongfully terminate contracts and later pay huge sums of money as judgement debts? In fact, why do people in some parts of our dear nation Ghana have to compete with animals for water to drink? Have we as a nation been able to strengthen the health sector so as to ensure effective health delivery? Are our roads in good shape? Do we still need to take action on an important issue the moment someone or an influential person is affected by that problem that has been left unattended to for so many years? I do not see why we should celebrate 56 years of independence if we can’t provide the basic necessities of life to our people. Has Ghana been really independent for all these years? I think posterity is just waiting to judge us if we don’t portray the true meaning of the word “Independence” and stop the lip service approach we have adopted for the past 56 years, God bless my homeland Ghana, amen