The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated there are no more excuses to "set Ghana to rights and get our country to where it should be".
According to him, though the country has made some strides, especially since the political atmosphere stabilised in 1993, the progress does not match what was anticipated at the time of independence.
"These past 24 years have been the longest period of political stability our country has enjoyed since independence, and the effects are showing, albeit slowly. The pace of our development has quickened and our self-confidence, which had been severely strained, has returned. At independence, the popular slogan was to seek first the political kingdom and all other things would be added. We assumed and, indeed, we expected that rapid economic development would follow the political freedom that we achieved" [but] sixty years after those heady days, too many of our people continue to wallow in unacceptable poverty
Ghana gained its independence on March 6, 1957, after about 113 years as a British colony, a feat which made it the first country south of the Sahara Desert.
Following independence, there was a high expectation for Ghana's accelerated growth and economic development with its first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah embarking on a number of significant projects and also setting up a national development plan to achieve this purpose.
But a coup d'etat in 1966 after nine years at the helm curtailed Dr Nkrumah's plan and the period between 1966-1993, saw less than six years of civilian rule with Prime Minister Dr K.A. Busia's government for the Second Republic and President Dr Hilla Limann's government for the Third Republic lasting just 27 months.
Speaking at the national parade to climax the activities marking the 60th Independence Day Celebrations at the Black Star Square in Accra on Monday, President Akufo-Addo maintained that after sixty years as an independent country and the high expectations that greeted our independence, Ghana's economic there was much work to be done to achieve economic freedom.
Paying glowing tributes to the leaders of Ghana's independence struggle, Mr Akufo-Addo said:
"Sadly, the economic dividend that was meant to accompany our freedom has still not materialised. After sixty years, we have run out of excuses and it is time to set Ghana to rights and get our country to where it should be. The challenge before us is to build our economy and generate a prosperous, progressive and dignified life for the mass of our people".
For him, with "hard work, enterprise, creativity and a consistent fight against corruption in public life we will achieve these goals" and thus called for unity going forward to get to the promised land of economic freedom faster.
"We will achieve these goals when we move and act as a united people. We must take pride in our diversity by all means, but the Ghanaian must always rise above the ethnic or sectional interest. We have a bright future and we must mobilize all our resources and all our strengths, here and in the Ghanaian Diaspora, to get to that promised land faster", he said.
He added, "I have confidence that we can and will achieve the dreams of our forebears. I am hopeful that we will continue to make ourselves worthy inheritors of this land. I know that we will wear the accolade of being a Ghanaian with pride. Let us mobilize for the happy and prosperous Ghana of tomorrow, in which all of us, including our youth, our women and the vulnerable in our society, will have equal opportunities to realise their potential, and build lives of dignity. Then, our independence will be meaningful. Then, we will have a Ghana beyond aid".Â
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