Ghana in Focus Independence Special: What Is Real Independence?

The idea of independence holds a profound place in the psyche of every nation. As Ghana commemorates its 68th anniversary of independence, we raise critical questions about what it truly means to be free. This episode takes an unflinching look at Ghanaian autonomy, dissecting the reality versus the myth.

We articulate the essence of real independence, posing the questions: Does Ghana genuinely serve its own interests, or does it bend to the whims of foreign powers, exemplified by its reliance on institutions like the IMF and World Bank?

Ghana's economic landscape starkly illustrates its dependence. The discussion reveals how crucial sectors, such as banking and telecommunications, are not under Ghanaian control. We articulate the painful reality that the country must seek approval from international forces before it can even prepare its budget. 

By analysing the colonial roots embedded in Ghana's economy, we explain how the nation's dependency on exporting raw materials - notably cocoa - rather than processing them for local sales perpetuates a cycle of economic slavery. The podcast highlights a salient point: if Ghana were genuinely independent, it would own its resources and set its prices rather than having them dictated by the West and China.

The conversation takes a poignant turn when addressing food security and healthcare. We reinforce that for a truly independent nation, self-sufficiency in agriculture is essential. The contrast between Ghana's heavy dependence on imported food and the cultivation of local resources is stark. 

We urge listeners to recognise that a nation unable to feed itself is running a grave risk. This risk extends to healthcare, where Ghana's reliance on foreign aid underscores a bigger issue: are we genuinely sovereign if our health sector and education systems are funded by Western nations?

We discuss how external pressures, especially regarding legislative initiatives, like the anti LGBTQ+ bill can become bogged down by fears of international backlash, revealing a significant conflict between national interests and global pressures.

True independence is depicted as fundamentally challenging the status quo—striving for a nation that proudly champions its own identity and decisively shapes its development trajectory. 

The podcast serves as a call to rethink independence not just as a historical event but as an ongoing journey requiring concerted effort from every Ghanaian citizen.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Ghana in Focus
• 8:53 Introducing Kwame, Your Host
• 15:41 The Concept of Real Independence
• 48:35 Ghana's Economic Dependence and IMF
• 15:29:00 Food Independence and Healthcare Issues
• 22:40:00 The Path to True Independence

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to this week's edition of Ghana in Focus. Myself Kwame, ghanaian broadcaster, writer, journalist, podcaster and entrepreneur. And in this week's edition of Ghanaian Focus, what is real independence? Indeed, what is real independence? So, before we get into the show, if you like what you hear, please share to your friends, family, social media networks. Subscribe to Ghana African Focus on YouTube the target for this year is at least 100 subscribers and also subscribe to Ghana ghana african focus on spotify. Again, target this year is for a thousand uh followers on spotify. We've got 575 followers so far, so that's great. So please tell your friends, family and social media networks about ghana african focus. Subscribe look out for that. On Spotify, hit the follow button, meaning that every time I upload a new podcast, spotify will inform you Again. If you want to contribute to the show, you can donate as little as three US dollars a month to help us with our costs and to continue bringing you great content from Ghana and from Africa.

Speaker 1: 1:24

All right, so let's get into a podcast what is real independence? So on Thursday, the 6th of March, ghana will be celebrating its 68th anniversary of being a so-called independent country, taking independence from Britain on on march 6 1957, 58 years ago. So, like I said in other podcasts before, uh, ghana is not independent. For my ghanaians, listeners living in ghana and those abroad, ghana is not an independent country. Ghana is a dependent country. Yeah, and so the whole point of this podcast is to tell Ghanaians and fans of Ghana what real independence should look like. Yeah, not this fake Mickey Mouse independence that many Ghanaians think that we're actually a sovereign country, but we're not. That many Ghanaians think that we are actually a sovereign country, but we're not. And many Ghanaians think that, because we've got a flag and a national anthem, that we're independent. No, we are far, far from being independent. Like I said, we are dependent on others. So what does real independence look like? So, for example, if Ghana was really independent, ghana would not seek $3 billion with conditions from the IMF and World Bank to get circle financials poor, and Ghana would not even seek any aid, because Ghana would be able to run its own affairs in accordance with its own national interests. Yeah, so the fact that Ghana, because of the recklessness and mismanagement of the last MPP government, the fact that Ghana has to go couple of times to the IMF, yeah, is to prove that Ghana is not dependent. Sorry, ghana is not independent, it is dependent. It is sorry, ghana is not independent, it is dependent.

Speaker 1: 3:26

Real independence means being able to manage your economy with the resources that you've got and I'll come to the resources in a minute yeah, to create a situation where you are contributing to every endeavour in the country, so it being housing, education and I come to education in a minute agriculture, which I'll come to in a minute housing, etc. You'll be in charge of that. That is what we mean by real independence. So our economy, you know, is a key example of why we're not independent because, like I mentioned on another podcast, ghana does not control the key aspects of its economy. So, for example, banking, telecommunications, mining, oil and retail these are not these aspects of the economy. These key aspects of the economy are not controlled by Ghana. Real independence means that you have control over your economy, particularly the key aspects of the economy.

Speaker 1: 4:52

Secondly, how many of us know how did you know that Ghana's budget before it was read in Parliament? So this has to fall on budget. That would be a week on Tuesday, and on that on the 10th of March. I'll be doing a budget special of, to my take as to what should be in the budget on the 11th. But do you know that Ghana's budget has to be approved by the IMF and World Bank before the finance minister sits down in parliament to read out to the public? Did you know that? So real independence means that we, we make our budget, we tailor our budget to the needs wants of the country Ghana and we create a budget that is in the national interest of Ghana. Right now, like I said, our budget does not really meet the needs and wants of Ghana or interest of Ghana, because it must be sanctioned by the IMF before it goes to Parliament. So that tells you that we don't have real independence.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Again, in terms of the economy, if Ghana was really independent, ghana would decide for itself what economy it has. So right now, because of the colonial hangover and the fact that none of our leaders since Nkrumah has sought to take Ghana on a different trajectory, our economy is basically a colonial economy. What do I mean by that? I mean that we are hewers of wood and drawers of water, ie, we are primarily an economy that is a colonial economy in terms of that. We have all these raw materials, but A we don't control them and B we don't add value to the resources. So we have the resources, but other countries, you know, buy the raw mineral or the raw resource, take it to their countries, add value to it and then sell it back to us. Yeah, and Parmesan plays Coco. So Coco is one of Ghana's biggest exports. However, it's not the finished product that we sell to the international market. It is the raw cocoa that goes outside of Ghana that is then turned into chocolate, chocolate bars, hot chocolate beverages what have you right? So back to us.

Speaker 1: 7:41

So real independence means having an economy that is not a colonial economy, but an economy that meets the needs and wants of Ghana. Again, real independence means owning and control of your own resources. So now, in somewhere like Burkina Faso, where Captain Ibn Chowdhury has kicked out the French and has torn apart that wicked French agreement that allowed France to take up 95% of Burkina Faso's wealth and resources, yeah, burkina Faso now owns all these resources and manages all these resources. That's what we call real independence. Ghana does not do that. Ghana does not own the cocoa, because Ghana does not determine the price on the world market for cocoa. That is determined by the West. Ghana does not control the oil. It doesn't own the oil, because if we did, we wouldn't get 10% or 15% of oil receipts. So real independence means having charge, having the ownership and managing the resources and even setting the price of the resources that benefits you and your national interest. Again, if Ghana was really independent, we wouldn't get aid.

Speaker 1: 9:10

So all this hoopla about Donald Trump cutting USAID to Ghana and other African countries, and people are crying because these USAID to Ghana and other African countries, and people are crying, oh you know, because these USAID funds a lot of key sectors, ie agriculture, education, healthcare. Yeah, people are now saying what are we going to do with all this USAID? So that shows you that dependency is rife in Ghana Because, like I said, we don't need $150 million from USAID. So real independence is, to borrow an Akufo-Addo mantra Ghana beyond aid, whereby Ghana will not be received from aid from anyone US, uk, european Union, germany, what have you? Ghana would control its own resources, would own its resources and manage its resources and then use the proceeds of its resources to develop its agricultural industry, to develop its schools, hospitals, roads, etc.

Speaker 1: 10:21

So the fact that Ghana relies on aid and on that, do you know that? You know half of the so-called US IDA goes on health, goes on health, our healthcare. So real independence means that you will not rely on aid to fund your healthcare programme, your education programme, your agriculture programme, your Gilding School programme, your Women in Empowerment programme, your HIV AIDS programmes. No, real independence means that you would use your own resources to fund those important aspects of nation building. So the fact that Ghana relies dependently on a lot of so called aid from western, so called partners. This reflects Ghana's position. So real independence means that you are not tied to aid. You are not tied to conditions of aid. This reflects Ghana's position. So real independence, yeah, means that you are not tied to aid. You are not tied to conditions of aid, and that aid is not, you know, is something that you can do without. That is what we call real independence.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Again, real independence is the ability to feed oneself. Like I said before, ghana, many, many times. Ghana is not able to feed itself. Why? Because Ghana neglected its agriculture policy after the increment was removed. Yeah, and the reason? Today I'm here for a bank who told us that not to invest in agriculture but to import food. And so because Ghana has imported food for the last 30 to 40 years.

Speaker 1: 12:08

Ghana cannot feed itself. Ghana depends on exports. So, for example, rice. Ghana imports at least one billion dollars of rice every year into Ghana From India, from China, chinese farmers, vietnamese farmers jobs because we are importing their rice. So real independence is what Ipim Chow is doing right now, next door in Burkina Faso investing also in agriculture, buying up-to-date machinery, buying organic seedlings or creating your own seedlings not the GMO that other people want us to import, but organic seedlings whereby we grow food naturally. Food independence is of key importance because a country that cannot feed itself is a country that is doomed for death. Because a lot of the food that is important into Ghana, for example, the chicken apparently I read the other day that Ghana imports more than 300 US dollars a year worth of chicken poultry.

Speaker 1: 13:31

Yeah, and that chicken that's coming to Ghana. Is that really healthy? Is that really healthy? We know there's a lot of GM in Europe and America and we know that. You know a lot of the chickens are first steroids to make them big, to make them fat. We know that they put chemicals in it that destroy the human body. This is the chicken at retail in Ghana, because we're not real independent.

Speaker 1: 14:00

So if we're real independent, real independent is that you are able to feed yourself, yeah, so you're able to put in place structures, able to build silos warehouses. You're able to build silos warehouses. You're able to buy machinery. You're able to develop organic seedlings, not monsanto gmo, not just skin modified seeds that kill the body, not just skin modified organisms that are crossbred with other dangerous plants that can cause cancer, that can cause, you know, other diseases. You, you would. We would develop our own agricultural seeding base whereby, using the technology of Kwanmin Kumbha Science University technology yeah, would have the students there that can, uh, create organic seedlings that our farmers can use those seeds. That is what real independence is like the ability to feed oneself and not being dependent on others to feed yourself.

Speaker 1: 15:04

Another aspect of real independence is healthcare. Like I said, usaid and other so-called donors have a heavy imprint in Ghana's health sector, yeah, and so this is not bode well for the health of our people, because infant mortality is still a huge issue in Ghana. So if we were really independent, we would take control of our healthcare. Ie, we would not be depending on USAID, european Union, jica, japan International Cooperation Agency, german Technical Agency, ukaid and others to support our healthcare. We would have the will of all to understand that healthcare is very, very important, because a healthy people is other people. A sick people is a poor nation, and so if Ghana was really independent, or real independence, it means the ability to take control of your healthcare Very, very key sector of people's endeavour healthcare.

Speaker 1: 16:23

Another issue that is a mark of real independence is that you make decisions that are in the national Interest of the country Ie Ghana and not in the interest of others. So, for example, A classic example Is the so called Anti-LGBTQ bill, otherwise known as the promoting Healthy Ghanaian Family sexual values. Yeah, if Ghana was really independent, we would have passed the bill a long time ago, passed the bill a long time, but because we are dependent on others for our survival, akufo-addo did not sign the bill because he was scared of the repercussions of what would happen if he did, and as yet we're giving Muhammad time because he's only been in power for two months. But Muhammad is yet to sign into law the anti-LGBTQ plus bill. Yeah, so we're watching Mohammed, we're glad of that, but a real independence Is being able to make decisions Like signing the LGBT, anti-lgbtq plus Bill. That's in the interest Of Ghana, a southern country, rather than the interest of the USA or the European Union or UK who are threatening that if Ghana signs the anti-LGBTQ plus into law, ghana could face severe sanctions.

Speaker 1: 18:06

Yeah, and so real independence is doing what is in your country's best interest, same way America does what's in its interest, same way the European Union does what's in its interest, same way that China does what's in its interest. Again, real independence means that you will not allow other people, ie the Chinese, to come into your country and destroy your environment because of illegal small-scale mining. That is not independent, that is dependence. Yeah, and that is not a country that thinks of its natural interest. Yeah, so this wantonon, brazen destruction of our water bodies, of our land, of our forestry because of illegal small scale mining is proof that we don't have real independence in Ghana. Because if we have real independence in Ghana, a this thing wouldn't happen. This Ghanai galaxy, and if it did right, we would lock up all these Chinese people and their accomplices and deal with them. Most of the Chinese people who have been caught doing this illegal small-scale mining haven't been even brought before court of law. Yeah, if Ghana was really independent, like I said, all those wicked Chinese people putting on land, putting on soil, we had been put before a court of law and being deported back to China, but because we are dependent on China, yeah, for loans or what have you right, ghana is not a really independent country.

Speaker 1: 19:57

And finally, on this, real independence means managing your own affairs. So Kwame Nkrumah, ghanai's first president, stated that the black man is capable of managing his own affairs, but today, because we are dependent on other bodies, we are not able to manage our own affairs without other people interfering. Real independence means that you are free. We are not able to manage our own affairs without other people interfering. Real independence means that you are free to run the affairs of your country in the interest of your country, without any further on this way from any external force. So these are examples of real independence and why Ghana is not really independent.

Speaker 1: 20:50

But Ghana is a dependent state. And so our, our political elite because I'm not going to say our leaders our political elite have to understand that Ghana is not an independent country. Forget the national anthem, forget the flag, that Ghana is not an independent country, and the agenda and the goal must be that Ghana is a totally liberated, a totally emancipated, a total, real, independent country. Yeah, and this is what I want to impart to my Ghanaian listeners and listeners generally, that no African country is independent in the real sense of the word, independent apart from those four great African countries Mali, burkina Faso, niger, guinea-bissau and, to a degree, senegal. Those five countries have shown what it means to be really independent to take charge of your own affairs, to manage your affairs in the interest of your country, yeah, and not to be afraid. Not to be fearful of any external forces that you think could destroy your country. That is what we call real independence. And so, on this so-called Independence Day, I want my Ghanaians in particular, and Ghanaians who are living outside of Ghana, to really think, really analyse the fact that Ghana does not enjoy real independence because of what I've said, and to think and to work about how Ghana can become a really independent, sovereign state that does things in the interest of its people, not in the interest of others who do not really have the interest of Ghana at heart but are playing geopolitics and geoeconomics with Ghana. And so I thank you for listening to this edition of Ghana In Focus, independent special with myself, kwame, ghanaian writer, broadcaster, journalist. If you like what you hear, appreciate it to your friends, your family, social media networks.

Speaker 1: 23:15

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Speaker 1: 23:34

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