Like many other countries, especially in Africa, Ghana has had a long
history of colonization in which the colonial masters either fought to
maintain the territory, or changed ownership through mutual understanding.
Most of you are undoubtedly aware that the British were the last of Ghana’s
colonial masters. Unwilling and grudgingly, the British, handed over
self-rule to the natives of their Gold Coast in 1957, precisely on 6th
March.
In the years that followed, Ghana experimented with different systems of
governance; from a neo-colonial constitutional democracy to one party
states, to military regimes and finally, settling on a modern day hybrid
constitutional democracy as recently as January, 1992.
Ghana did not only experiment with different systems of governance over the
years, but also tried different systems of development. Our first
President, the Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, began our nation’s developmental
efforts with socialist ideas based on the African personality and identity.
Subsequently, succeeding governments tried a mix of western and eastern
forms of developmental concepts.
Currently in Ghana, the government of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,
President of the Republic of Ghana, has adopted a wealth creation and
property owning system of development with heavy doses of social
interventions, such as free Senior High School Education.
Our current President is also of the opinion that given a fair
international order, in which Ghana can negotiate for fair prices for its
products and natural resources, as well as stem the illicit outflow of
financial resources, then our country would not have to rely on aid. He is,
therefore, envisaging the rapid development of Ghana beyond aid, given that
Ghana is endowed with enormous human and natural resources like gold,
timber, manganese, bauxite, you name it.