A few Weeks ago, the African Continental Unity Party – Ghana chapter participated in a demonstration which took place in Ghana’s capital Accra for 3 days this October 2024, the demonstration was organized by the ‘Fix the Country‘ movement, an organized group of youth who have been at the center of standing up against bad government policies seen to be causing a lot of economic hardship in the country.
Just for clarity’s purpose, the country’s currency was GHC 1.9 to 1 dollar by December 2012, today the same currency is at GHC 16 to 1 dollar. This means that the currency has depreciated by 742% in 12 years. By a similar comparison the Ugandan Shilling has depreciated by 35% during the same period, after selling UGX 2700 in 2012 and being at UGX 3,657 today. This comparison is not meant to show competence in the management of the Ugandan economy, it is an attempt to show why the ‘Fix the country‘ demonstration broke out, economic hardship and what one Ghanaian millionaire called alienation of the Ghanaian people from the main sectors driving the economy, that is: Finance, Oil, Mining of Gold and other resources as well as telecommunications. Even Cocoa where many are engaged, they are at the lower end of the chain since there has not been significant effort dedicated to value addition, almost all the cocoa beans are exported to Switzerland and other European countries, yet the elites including subsequent presidents continue to pay lip service to the question of value addition, as if this a subject to be joked around with.
On the other hand, a depreciated currency keeps helping foreign entities in the country to export out the country’s minerals cheaply since one of the reasons manufacturing countries devalue their currency is to make their products affordable to those importing them. In this case Ghana is not exporting manufactured goods to benefit its people but foreigners who control these sectors under the guidance and watch of the almighty ruling class and elites, the same people meant to protect the country’s interests on behalf of the voting masses.
This recent demonstration has put the issue on a global stage, while the internal mainstream media, which is a culprit in this exploitation avoids mentioning it, for the demonstrators it is an attempt to address the root cause of the problem. A closer look at the miners tells us that the people directly involved are poor jobless and impoverished individuals arriving at this condition under the hands of international mining cartels working in concert with the country’s ruling class.
Worst of all, some neocolonial government officials are involved in the small-scale mining, with them being the employers of the same impoverished people who are being blamed the direct illegal mining. This further explains why neocolonial governments fail to take action against pollution and destruction of water bodies and land by their mates in Ghana and international oil companies in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
As discontent due to bad economic policies continued to boil in the country, in March 2023 the neocolonial government came out to increase salaries of the military and police, this was after rumors of a possible coup in imitation of the Sahel states of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Instead of addressing the root cause of the problem, the neocolonial officials, already cushioned with big public salaries from over taxing the citizens felt it right to bribe the security apparatus with a 300% increase in salaries.
Ironically even the main opposition candidate, a beneficiary of the same neocolonial exploitative system chipped in to support the same government he and his group daily opposes. The cry then became that of saving democracy and respect for the constitution. This democratic cry has of late become a passport for the incompetent to intrench themselves and continue selling out the continent and its African people since the demand for accountability is always countered with democratic slogans and rule of the constitution. Democracy has become immaterial piece of food and money to be paid for the people’s expenses, which should of course be completely rejected.
Galamsey is not the core problem but a symptom of a failed system being forcefully imposed upon the African people and in this case Ghana, the forceful eviction of people from mining sites will do nothing to address the underlying problem that is abject poverty due to indiscriminate exploitation of the country’s resources to enrich foreign corporations and the country’s elites at the expense of the masses who are left with nothing but starvation wages.
Until the country’s economy and by large the African Continent is restructured making sure the resources benefit African citizens instead of foreign corporations and a few elites who like parasites live on the impoverished bodies, to whom they now and then come with gymnastic style political slogans for votes, the galamsey menace will not entirely be addressed.
For Pan-African Organizations like the African Continental Unity Party (ACUP) Galamsey presents an opportunity break from this outdated thinking, the acceptance that foreigners have a right to Africa’s resources in what they term as their concessions, which leaves all wondering where they got those concessions from! We are yet to see an African who goes to the western world, China or India to take up these so-called concessions. The indiscriminate extraction of wealth from African lands under the guise of foreign direct investment using skewed and predatory contracts signed by unpatriotic elements must immediately come to an end.
Pan-African orientation, the ideas put forward by our forefathers and foremothers present to us are the only solution and master key to progress for the African Continent, these ideas may even be in contention with western exploitative gimmicks that have for so long been imposed on the African people.
For the Africa to move forward, The ACUP proposes divorce with the past and looking inward before outward. It means looking within to build a continental Railway Platform, a continental Communication platform which involves laying a fiber Optic cable that integrates the whole continent and building 4 mega-nuclear power plants in the East, West, South and North of the continent as an addition the great Inga Dam in D.R. Congo which should also be done in the shortest time possible. Each with a minimum of 40,000 MW, these power systems should supply power to majority of the African citizens as well as being the basis and backbone for African industrialisation and a really integrated African population market.
To Join the African Continental Unity Party in Organising the African Continent and African Diaspora, call (+233) 0548534511 or write to [email protected]
