Ghanaians urged to unite and develop their country
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday March 9, 2017 15:36
He called on his compatriots to mobilise for the happy and prosperous Ghana of tomorrow, in which all of them including their youth, women and the vulnerable in their society will have equal opportunities to realise their potential and build lives of dignity.
“If we reach these goals then our Independence will be meaningful. We will have a Ghana beyond aid,” he said, reading excerpts from President Akuffo Addo’s speech.
He said in 1957, they lowered the British flag and abandoned the name Gold Coast and took on the name Ghana that was the name of their ancestral home.
Kumi stated that “Ghana” was meant to give them a fresh start and mark the break from colonialism. He said it was meant to give them a sense of their historical roots and assurance that they had a history, culture and civilisation that preceded colonialism. “We must remember, on a day like this, others who are not listed among the forefront for political freedom, but who fought equally hard for our cultural integrity and the identification of who we are as Ghanaians.
After 60 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,” he said.
Kumi explained that the challenge before them was building their economy and generating a prosperous, progressive and dignified life for their people.
Kumi also pointed out that hard work, enterprise, creativity and a consistent fight against corruption in public life will bring the transformation they seek.
He stated that they could achieve those goals when they moved and act ed as a united people. He added that it was high time they took pride in their diversity by all means. He also paid tribute to the heroes and heroines who fought and dedicated their lives to their freedom.
“Ghanaians must always rise above the ethnic or sectional interest. We have a bright future and we must mobilise all our resources and all our strengths, here and in the Ghana Diaspora, to get to that Promised Land faster,” he said.
Kumi added that they could not ignore the state of their environment as they were endangering the very survival of their land. He said the dense forests that were homes to a variety of trees, plants and fauna had largely disappeared.
He said they currently import timber for their use and the description of their land as tropical forests no longer fits the reality. He pointed out that their rivers and lakes were disappearing and that those that still existed were all polluted.
“We have a right to exploit the bounties of the earth and extract the minerals and even redirect the path of the rivers, but we do not have the right to denude the land of the plants and fauna nor poison the rivers and lakes,” he ended.