The fundamentals of Ghana's underdevelopment

Poverty, like malaria has become a pandemic in Ghana and in other developing countries, especially in Sub- Saharan Africa. Why is Ghana so economically backward and so slow to develop even many years after extricating herself from colonialism and imperialism?

Development as perceived by Torado and Smith (2012), is a multi-dimensional process involving major changes in social structure, popular attitudes and national institutions as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality and eradication of poverty.

Development can also refer to both the qualitative and quantitative improvement in people’s living standards and in all horizons of human endeavour including education, health, and access to information, infrastructure, and housing and employment opportunities in the modern sector.

The reciprocal of the above constitutes underdevelopment. Many theories have been put forward to explain this peculiar plight of developing countries in Africa. One common theory is that, dark-skinned people living in Africa and elsewhere have been eternally cursed to be poor. This theory is sometimes referred to as ‘Curse Myth’- a theory that has no shred of scientific evidence to support it. Perhaps it has been concocted by fair-skinned race to enhance their feeling of superiority and to justify their treatment of black-skinned people.

The Curse Myth apart, there is another theory, dubbed the Torrid-Zone Dwellers Theory, which claims that people who live in the tropics are being adversely affected by the heat of the sun. The propounders claim that, the tropical climate is so enervating that, the brains of the dwellers in that zone are enfeebled and are, in consequence, rendered incapable of deep sustained thinking.

Apparently, there is no palpable evidence backing these spurious theories. What, then, are the reasons why Ghana, a country which brags of being the first black nation to have emancipated herself from colonial rule some sixty five years ago, a country endowed with enormous resources, struggling to develop?

Notable among the many researchers who have attributed Africa’s slow development to colonization is Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, the first black man to win the Novel Prize in Literature, averts that, Africa’s underdevelopment is the outcome of the “twin evils of slavery and colonialism inflicted by the Western world”. According to him, slavery and colonialism were two monumental historical events that dislocated Africa and aborted the continent’s social, political, economic and technological development.

In the case of Ghana, it would be very dishonest to continue to attribute our fiascos to slavery and colonial rule when our country was freed from these historical events more than six decades ago. In the abundance of water, it is only a fool who complains of thirst”. Why is Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana wallowing in poverty when we are surrounded by rich natural resources- Gold, Diamond, bauxite, manganese, timber, crude oil, fertile land, just to mention a few.

The various leaders (elected or imposed) we have had since independence has done this country a great deal of disservice. Our present and past leaders have been nonchalant about the large portion of the citizenry been poor, unemployed and marginalized. To all appearances, the efforts made by the policymakers including members of parliament, the executive and top bureaucrats of the various ministries and departments to alleviate poverty, have been ridiculously insignificant.

Various reports and surveys disclosed that the fundamental cause of Ghana’s underdevelopment is corruption. Corruption in Ghana has been a canker that has eaten into the greater portion of every aspect of our life as a nation; education, health, governance, judiciary and what have you.

According to Oladipo (2014), corruption and development are antitheses. Corruption depletes national resources and diverts desperately needed funds from education, healthcare and other social services, dislocates the economy and condemns the overwhelming majority of the people to illiteracy, hunger, poverty, misery, diseases and death. (Oladipo, 2014)

Politicians in Ghana have become ‘litters and vampires’ who, through their greed, have littered Ghana with hunger, poverty, poor healthcare, poor education, bad roads, and joblessness. Instead of building infrastructure, developing the economy, funding researches to power and fuel technology, innovation and modernization, the Ghanaian politician, as Moses Mungo said, “have turned themselves into thieves in government houses.”

They give sensitive and prestigious positions to their family members and pay themselves fat salaries and allowances as the country continues to ‘bleed’ economically.

It is ridiculously alarming that, the disposition of the Ghanaian politician is self-aggrandizement and self-perpetuation in power. To achieve this, Ayitey (2002) succinctly pointed out, “African leaders take over and subvert every key institution of government to serve their needs and not that of the people.” They compromise the Aid service, judiciary, military, media and even the banking sector and various institutions.

Conclusion

There are no qualms at all that, exogamous factors such as colonialism, neo-colonialism, slave trade and coup d’état have hindered Ghana’s socio-economic and technological development. On the other hand, endogamous causes like partisan politics, corruption, lootocracy among others, have rendered Ghana economically and technologically immobile.

Large sums of money, sufficient enough to catapult Ghana to an enviable economic and technological plain if channeled into economically productive ventures, end up in private pockets yet past and current leaders shamelessly continue to continue to globe-trot, with cap in hand, begging for aid.

If colonialism was a one- armed bandit, our leaders were/are, two-armed bandits, spendthrifts, pillagers, plunderers and lootocrats. Thus, several decades after extricating ourselves from the strings of colonialism and imperialism, most Ghanaians do not have access to reliable electricity, potable water, good road networks, quality healthcare, quality education just to mention a few. Until we get selfless, dedicated and committed leaders with clear vision and the courage to pursue them without of loosing elections, chronic poverty and underdevelopment will continue to persist in this great but dormant nation.

REFERENCES

1. M.P. Torado and C.S. Smith(2012), Economic Development (Boston: Pearson Publication) p.16

2. Oladipo O. E. (2016), Underdevelopment in Africa: Theories and Facts. The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies. Volume 41,number 1

3. Ayitey G. (2002), “Biting Their Own Tails: African Leaders and the Internalist Intricacies of the Rape of a Continent”, SORAC Conference.

4. Mungo M. (2013)“ Corruption Trends in Africa[sic] Development” Retrieved from http://www.blogg.fn