Famed historian and legal practitioner Yaw Anokye Frimpong has charged the government to go back to its roots in establishing factories to create jobs and sustain the independence gained 67 years ago.
According to him, the legacy set by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah after attainment of independence is for Ghana to manufacture and produce its own goods to propel the country not to be dependent on any developed countries.
Speaking in an interview with Max Morning Agenda in Accra on Wednesday, Anokye Frimpong stated that the developmental projects embarked on by Kwame Nkrumah were geared towards making Ghana’s currency valuable and allowing the country to compete effectively with developed countries.
“Until the attainment of independence, Ghana never had any factories because every colonial country was just a producer of raw materials. The raw materials are transported to the metropolitan countries for manufacture. The goods were now imported for us to buy at an expensive rate.”
“The whites also export it to other countries to sell it for their currency to remain an international currency,” he said.
Based on this backdrop, Anokye Frimpong indicated that Nkrumah decided to level up the game by creating factories to manufacture everything “we import except airplanes and ships, which the country cannot manufacture.”
“Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s started creating bombs at Kwabenya Atomic with the help of the Russians. That is the reason why the place is called Atomic,” Anokye Frimpong noted.
He lamented that after 67 years of independence, Ghana is bedevilled with debt, though successive governments have been able to sustain peace and tranquility.
The lawyer likened Ghana’s current economic hardship to that of an old man who did not live his life well, even when he was able to take care of his health.
He noted that during Nkrumah’s tenure, Ghana was richer than Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and many European countries, but it was not able to sustain that due to successive governments that sold off many of the state properties and factories.
Until Ghana goes back into industrialization and also revamps the Kumasi Jute Factory, Komenda Sugar Factory, and a shoe factory, among other abandoned factories, Anokye Frimpong maintains that Ghana will still limp and continue to borrow.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Joyceline Natally Cudjoe
