A 40-year National Development Plan for Ghana, which will be binding on all successive governments, was launched in Accra on Tuesday with a call on national leaders to be committed and undertake the right investments to meet the aspirations of the younger generation.
Rebecca Obeng-Kyereh, an eight-year-old girl who made the call when delivering a vision statement on behalf of Curious Minds at the launch said, “Looking ahead, forty years appear to be a long time and within that period many things can be achieved.”
The programme was attended by dignitaries, including the two former Presidents – Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor – ministers of state, Members of Parliament, political parties’ leaders, traditional leaders, the Christian and Muslim clergy and civil society organisations.
“For us as young people, we are looking at the possibility of children not roaming the streets because their parents were not able to cater for them.
“We are looking at a future where young ones will not be rushed out of their beds at 4am because their parents must get to work through traffic. It is always a headache where because our parents must work, we are robbed of our sleep as children.
“This will mean that we would have developed our transportation system and made it like what we see elsewhere. It will mean getting our roads in good shape for easy movement,” Obeng-Kyereh underscored.
The little girl, a Class Three pupil of Royal Diadem Preparatory School, added that the vision of the younger people is to see a country where “we have tapped into technology to an extent that we will not be talking about difficulties with managing waste such that they give us diseases.
“We should then be tapping whatever we can from the waste so that they become resources rather. By the period we are talking about, we would have seen a marked improvement in our attitudes so that we know resources are not just thrown about. Thus we will not litter.”
Obeng-Kyereh said, “I am looking at a clean country so that we do not spend money at the hospital or lose hours of work or school time getting a cure from any sanitation-related disease.
“Above all, I will like to see a country where there will always be clean language on our airwaves so that children will learn and parents will not be apprehensive when children are listening. We can do it. …It’s possible.”
She urged the leaders of the country to put their shoulder to the wheel and take the necessary steps to ensure the progress of the country, stating, “As young people, we plead for commitment and the right investment and the rest will be history.”
She continued, “As children, we also pledge to tap into all the provisions that will be made for us. We will do so positively and with the utmost responsibility. We all want to look at the possibilities and not just the challenges, and then we shall succeed.”
Governments Blamed
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Planning Development Commission, Professor Kwesi Botchwey, has blamed successive governments for Ghana’s current developmental problems.
He explained that successive governments failed to implement long-term plans, which would have ensured the development of the nation.
Prof Botchwey noted that Ghana was once considered to be on a similar level as South Korea and Malaysia. However, he said Ghana has lagged behind while these other countries have flourished and achieved high income growth.
“Development economists and social scientists have for long noted that at independence, Ghana’s level of development was broadly similar to those of Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea. Ghana has lagged behind while these other countries have flourished and achieved high income growth,” he said.
Prof Botchwey stated that developing and implementing a longer-term plan is necessary for Ghana to reach the level of the Asian countries.
President John Mahama, who officially launched the long-term development plan, said it would significantly transform Ghana.
He said his government would stick faithfully to the dictates of the plan, stating, “This 40-year development plan will tackle Ghana’s development challenges and as a government we are fully committed to it.
The plan is the first ever long-term development agenda for Ghana.
It will bind governments to a vision from 2018 to 2057 when the country will turn 100 years.
Source: Cephas Larbi I Daily Guide
