Former Deputy Finance Minister Kwaku Kwarteng has expressed worry over the administration of Ghana since its independence.
He explains that, unlike other economies where leaders generate revenue for the development of the countries, Ghana has seen the reverse.
According to him, Ghanaian leaders since independence have relied on borrowing, which they end up spending recklessly.
He believes that this is a major reason why the country and its citizens have not seen the prosperity they deserve over the years.
“It is not revenue that we have created that we misuse; we go to borrow. Post-independence, the style of government we have practised has been to borrow and borrow and award contracts and take kickbacks and mess up the economy and create an unstable environment so that entrepreneurs are not able to do their work, the economy is not expanding in the proper areas, and production is still very low. When I look at you, and I look at the youth that we are churning out of the universities, where are we going to find work for them?” he said.
He continued, “This country cannot go on like this; we can never grow like this. At some point we have to draw the line and say this is where we change course. Others have done it; why can’t we do it? Why can we not do it for our entrepreneurs to create jobs for the youth and bring prosperity to our people? Folks, why can we not do it? We have not been able to do it because all the wrong things I spoke of in government feed people’s interest”.
“So they are not easy to change. So sometimes politicians set out to do their best, the interests are very strong, they fail, and along the line they give up and join the loot. In order to fix this mess and prevent the country from going into the kind of ditch we see and stop what is likely to be a more difficult Ghana for our children and our grandchildren, we have got to stop at some point and change course, and to do that we will need a leadership that is radical; you’ll need a leadership that can confront and disrupt this unhelpful status quo. You’ll need a bold leader. As for the suit-wearing gentlemen, we have seen them and seen them. A time has come when Ghana has to be taken over by people who are willing to confront the status quo and set this country on the path of prosperity,” he remarked.
