A former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Akwasi Oppong Fosu, said, Ghana’s crisis is resulted from interrelated factors including leadership failure, democratic governance dysfunction, meltdown of state institutions, plunder of national resources and unprecedented economic decline.
This, he said all of which have converged to tilting the country towards social and political instability.
Mr Oppong Fosu said this when he addressed members of the East London National Democratic Congress [NDC] at its Annual Conference in London.
The theme for the conference: “Rethinking Leadership and Governance For The Ghana We Want: The Role of the Diaspora”.
He said the theme for the conference reflects the desire for a non-partisan approach to building the Ghana we all want, knowing that Ghana was in a national crisis and verging towards a national catastrophe.
“The leadership of Ghana has to do things differently and urgently so we avoid the consequences of the dark clouds looming over our heads” he said.
The Ghana We Want
Mr Oppong Fosu said although the Directive Principles of State Policy of the 1992 Constitution clearly articulates “The Ghana We Want”, these principles have taken the centre stage in recent times in our public discourse as if they are new things which have suddenly appeared from nowhere.
The sudden upsurge in the discourse is as a result of the self-serving political and policy choices, economic mismanagement and exponential rise in corruption and the negative impact on the well-being of citizens.
“The Ghana We Want” has been featuring prominently in the campaign messages of former President John Mahama who is also the flagbearer of the NDC”.
The Democratic Governance
The former minister of Environment said with the advent of the twin concepts of globalisation and democratisation since the late 1980s, the notion of governance has shifted from a focus on what governments do, to an increased recognition of the role of non-State actors, including civil society organisations, media and think tanks.
He said democratic governance which has been conceptualised as the effective management and mediation of the interaction of state and non-state actors, has engendered the building of open, transparent, responsive and accountable institutions and processes that serve the needs and preferences of citizens.
The Leadership
Mr Oppong Fosu said leaders have been used interchangeably and encompasses leaders, the led and the context within which the two interact.
He said the context is defined by the peoples’ values, belief systems, mindset, behavioural patterns, symbols and heroes within the socio-cultural, economic and political environment.
“Leadership 77 hold the view that leadership is a reflection of society. Lionel Trilling, the renowned American literary critic posited that in the end, the way a nation thinks determines the quality of its governance” he stated.
The former Minister of Environment said over the years, Ghanaians have bemoaned the lack of progress in our socio-economic development and continue to cite the rapid post-independence growth and development of countries like Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea who were at the same level of development and gained independence around the same time.