Cedi Devalued By More Than 30000%, Over 400 SOEs Sold - Pratt On Ghana@65

Ghana turned 65 years old on Sunday, March 6 and as custom demands, there was a national parade to commemorate the day.

Ghanaian school children, workers, security agencies among others gathered at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in the Central Region and put up a colorful display to the delight of the entire nation as well as reminding the citizenry of how far Ghana, formerly called the Gold Coast, has come.

However, the Ghana's journey so far hasn't been smooth but rather it's been characterized by events that one would want to reminisce for various reasons and draw lessons from.

Discussing the 65th anniversary of Ghana during Tuesday's edition of Kokrokoo on Peace FM, Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt brought into memory Ghana's past and present decisions by successive governments.

One of such decisions he recalled while speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi was State-owned companies that had been sold off.

Mr. Pratt, in his criticisms, noted that about 400 State-owned entreprises have all been sold and, to him, this is not something Ghana should be proud of.

He explained that the few State-owned companies that haven't been sold are doing so well that it makes him wonder why the other companies were sold out.

He also decried the culture of Ghana gong to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance, stressing the country should desist from begging the IMF.

Another problem he identified is the devaluation of the country's currency against foreign currencies, primarily the US Dollar, and the laying off of workers from various companies.

''In a period of one year, 300000 workers lost their jobs...From 1983 till date, Ghana's currency has been devalued by more than 30000 percent. It didn't also end better for us'', he said.

Although not clearly showing how he feels after 65 years of independence, Mr. Pratt was however unhappy with the state of the economy, hence called for the restructuring of Ghana so as to relieve Ghanaians of their economic burdens.

''We have the largest man-made lake in the world but what are we using it for? How beneificial has it been for us?'', he asked, emphasizing ''the structure of our economy needs to change''.