Anarcho-Communist
1st August 2005, 07:56
African voices: Emmanuel Kuyole – Ghana
What are Africa’s greatest challenges?
The widening gap between the rich and the poor is very worrying. We still have lot of children out of school.
A lot of people have no access to basic health services and clean drinking water. A lot of people are infected with HIV/AIDS.
Another challenge is about trade and our trade relations. Many of the products we buy here are imported from outside, but it hasn’t always been like this.
We used to buy more locally produced products. Now we are competing with imports from outside. We can not develop like this.
Trade is an end product of a process. You have to have the capacity to produce in the first place before you go to the marketplace to trade.
In Ghana, over the years, our industries and factories have become run down and this has weakened our capacity to produce. This is our biggest challenge.
What are the solutions?
We need good leaders, not just in political life but also in business, in agriculture and in all institutions.
We need to give more power to the citizens and hopefully address the issue of corruption and nepotism.
We need to see how we can restrain the dominant role that trans-national and multinational companies have over our government and give more autonomy and independence to our national institutions.
We have to be able to redefine for ourselves what democracy means for us as Africans rather than just importing Western-style democracy wholesale.
For example, there are many positive aspects of African culture, such as chieftaincies, which must not be lost.
How do you see Ghana in ten years’ time?
I hope that we will be able to build on the gains that we have made, to strengthen democracy, increase civil society engagement, government accountability and transparency.
I do have hope for Ghana but it depends on how much the government is willing to address the widening equality gap that exists and the kind of policies that will be pursued.
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I respect this man for his disability, he has just completed a ten day ride on a bicycle with one leg around Ghana. His disability hasn't stopped him from anything, and I respect that! :rolleyes:
What are Africa’s greatest challenges?
The widening gap between the rich and the poor is very worrying. We still have lot of children out of school.
A lot of people have no access to basic health services and clean drinking water. A lot of people are infected with HIV/AIDS.
Another challenge is about trade and our trade relations. Many of the products we buy here are imported from outside, but it hasn’t always been like this.
We used to buy more locally produced products. Now we are competing with imports from outside. We can not develop like this.
Trade is an end product of a process. You have to have the capacity to produce in the first place before you go to the marketplace to trade.
In Ghana, over the years, our industries and factories have become run down and this has weakened our capacity to produce. This is our biggest challenge.
What are the solutions?
We need good leaders, not just in political life but also in business, in agriculture and in all institutions.
We need to give more power to the citizens and hopefully address the issue of corruption and nepotism.
We need to see how we can restrain the dominant role that trans-national and multinational companies have over our government and give more autonomy and independence to our national institutions.
We have to be able to redefine for ourselves what democracy means for us as Africans rather than just importing Western-style democracy wholesale.
For example, there are many positive aspects of African culture, such as chieftaincies, which must not be lost.
How do you see Ghana in ten years’ time?
I hope that we will be able to build on the gains that we have made, to strengthen democracy, increase civil society engagement, government accountability and transparency.
I do have hope for Ghana but it depends on how much the government is willing to address the widening equality gap that exists and the kind of policies that will be pursued.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I respect this man for his disability, he has just completed a ten day ride on a bicycle with one leg around Ghana. His disability hasn't stopped him from anything, and I respect that! :rolleyes: