Ghana: Celebrating 50 Years of What?

“We prefer self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility,” Kwarme Nkruamh said boldly of his attempts to free the Gold Coast from its colonial master. Last week Ghanaians rejoiced in 50 years of independence but when Nkrumah spoke those words neither he nor those who listened with nationalistic fervour could have imagine that within 10 years it would be neither of Nkrumah's options but a third, deadlier option that they would live by. By electing Nkrumah as Prime Minister, Ghanaians had unwittingly chosen 'servitude with danger' as their path to development as a "free" state.

When he achieved power, Nkrumah set out to fulfill his vision of creating an industrialised socialist state by financing over-ambitious developmental projects. These unnecessary projects were primarily financed by reducing the prices the government paid farmers for their crops. Instead of uniting Ghanians with a realistic plan for development, Nkrumah succeeded in alienating the populus from his own particular vision of the future of the state. Farmers now received reduced revenues that led to food shortages as they could no longer afford to maintain production levels without government subsidies. Nkrumah sought additional savings by underpaying the army causing major unrest which eventually led to violence and a military coup. The first of many succesful coups that inflicted Ghana throughout the late sixties and seventies.

Nkrumah's inability to seperate the reality of government from his personal Imperial ambitions culminated in the £10 million he spent on the facilities that hosted the Pan-African Conference. Fifty years later Ghana is still searching for an independent future. But it is not a colonial master from which Ghana needs to be freed. The true legacy of Nkrumah is the corruption that haunts the corridors of power in Accra. When Nkrumah went from prisoner to Prime Minister in one day, Ghana made a similar transition. From colony to fiefdom and it has never truly recovered.

The history of Ghana's independence is an acute reminder that 50 years of Independence is nothing to celebrate. Instead we should take this opportunity to reflect on why Africa is still crippled with corruption, misgovernment and poverty. Open the pages of today's newspapers and you can read about the latest political virus to infect the heart of civilization. Zimbabwe, once the garden of Africa has the world's highest rate of inflation at over 1700%. If African countries were companies they would be paying large sums for management and business consultants to help them achieve transparency and growth. Yet for the sake of independence and freedom we quickly removed the shackles of colonialism and unleashed an even worse fate upon the peoples of Africa. Development is a process that can be encouraged but not enforced. Africa resembles an untrained dog that has been left off its leash to terrorise and devour. It is time that leash was put back on until the African dog was retrained.