By The Catholic Standard
At the dawn of the Independence of African States from colonial rule, many were those who thought that this signaled strong prospects and hope for a better and prosperous Continent.
Unfortunately, that hope has turned into a very big disappointment for many countries. A cursory look around the continent shows that there is very little hope of our getting out of the myriad of challenges militating against our Socio-Economic Development.
After more than half a century of Independence, it is a pity that majority of Africans are among the world’s poorest not withstanding the availability of abundant human and natural resources.
Dr. Kofi Annan, a former UN Secretary General, in a video presentation to the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank Group (AFDB) Board of Governors in India pointed out that Africa’s challenges persisted not because of lack of knowledge, plans or technical solutions but a lack of political will. (see our front-page report for details).
The Catholic Standard agrees with Dr. Annan that the lack of political will by some African Leaders to implement good policies is making it difficult if not impossible to attain the desired development of our Continent.
Narrowing the situation to what pertains in Ghana, The Catholic Standard feels that the main issues holding back our development can easily be attributed to bribery and corruption and mismanagement of resources.
Presently, the tentacles of corruption have reached almost all levels of the Ghanaian society. Most of our leaders no longer understand the concept of service above self. It is no more news in Ghana that some of our leaders, not just political leaders, amassed and continue to amass wealth, indeed ill-gotten wealth, while most Ghanaians are wallowing in abject poverty, hunger, squalor, and disease. What a shame!
A major challenge that we are facing today, as a country is the get-rich-quick attitude at all cost. Many people have been placed in positions of leadership but lack character or integrity. Past and recent news reports have cited cases of corruption and financial malfeasance which are mind-boggling.
In some cases, our common resources have been treated as if they belonged to only a few people. Despite the large amount of local resources, development aid from Donor Countries or Development Partners, Ghana’s economy remains very weak, due to corruption and the lack of sustained economic growth.
Policies aimed at controlling or reducing corruption in Ghana and for that matter African countries, must begin with the laying of strong socio-economic foundations.
Those involved in corruption should not only be named and shamed but made to face the full rigours of the Law.
There is no gainsaying in the fact that the development or otherwise of any country depends on the effectiveness or otherwise of its leaders; be they political, religious or civil.
Indeed, there is a strong connection between Good Leadership and Development, or to put it bluntly, between underdevelopment and poor and selfish leadership.
We therefore appeal to our African Leaders to endeavour to develop better policies for the building of infrastructure and the required Institutions of their countries to pave the way for integral development of their citizens.
Until this situation changes through a paradigm shift, there is little hope for Africa.
