GROWING GHANA TOGETHER
GHANA CAN BE BETTER
Executive Summary
What is Oman Ghana Baako?
Oman Ghana Baako is a non-government policy organisation; it is not a political party. Oman Ghana Baako is developing policies to realise its vision & will work with national & regional governments to implement them.
Our Mission/Vision Statement
Oman Ghana Baako intends that, within less than a (sacrificial) generation from now, Ghana will be free of endemic corruption; all its residents will know they can satisfy their basic needs & reasonable aspirations at home. Ghanaians will be proud of their identity. Our young will not flee; rather, they will be courted by the world for their confidence & competence. Ghana can be better.
Mission Statement
Oman Ghana Baako: Growing Ghana together.
The Big Question
Why is Ghana underdeveloped, given its abundant natural & human resources?
Oman Ghana Baako asserts that many Ghanaians feel excluded from economic & civil life, backward & lacking hope or pride.
Oman Ghana Baako proposes that assurance of basic social entitlements – safety, clean water & food, clothing, accommodation, health care; education, employment, & infrastructure – will enable Ghanaians to take pride in the present, hope for continuous improvement & contribute to Ghana’s development.
Oman Ghana Baako looks to Ghanaian residents for cooperation & belief. We look to Ghanaian young people to reengage with & commit to their communities.
Oman Ghana Baako’s mission begins now. Development is urgent because Ghana’s presently young population will have completed its demographic transition to a stable number (nearly triple today’s) by the end of this century. At that point the population will be aging & development much more difficult to finance.1
Short to Long Term Goals
Oman Ghana Baako’s short-term goals are:
- to publicise its program;
- to recruit intellectual, moral & financial support among the Ghanaian diaspora, & progressive residents & institutions at
Oman Ghana Baako’s medium term goals are:
- to identify & negotiate commitment of resources to our program;
- to develop & begin to deploy our civic education materials in cooperation with governments;
- to negotiate progressive implementation of our social entitlement & employment programs, beginning within the next national budget cycle, with commitment to full implementation within one generation (20 years);
- to negotiate commitment to our inspirational ‘smart-cities’ & like programs, with immediate commencement of at least one signature program within the next national or local government budget
Oman Ghana Baako’s long term goals are:
- to minimise corruption at all levels of public life;
- to implement its lifetime program of basic & aspirational social entitlements for all residents;
- to diminish economic disparity among Ghanaians;
- to inspire young Ghanaians to fulfil their aspirations within
Our Program
Oman Ghana Baako intends to
- Identify & negotiate commitment of resources in public ownership, reserving them for use or allocation by the state, to enable assurance of basic social entitlements (above) to our whole Ghanaian society;
- Develop social services & amenities, targeting our most vulnerable & deprived first;
- Diminish economic disparity by assurance of basic social entitlements to all
- Confront corruption with civic education throughout society: in schools, workplaces, media & communities;
How is Oman Ghana Baako Mobilising Resources?
- Mobilise our worldwide Ghanaian diaspora in support of its Program;
- Focus diaspora contributions – financial, intellectual & personal – upon its Program;
- Discourage youth from leaving Ghana;
- Encourage youth participation & fulfilment at
Oman Ghana Baako’s Assumptions
Oman Ghana Baako asserts that Ghana is under-developed in relation to its natural resources. These include:
- its young, educated, multi-lingual English-speaking population;
- cultural specificity & diversity;
- intellectual property;
- abundant, high quality agricultural land;
- mineral wealth beneath its land (& sea);
- forests, wildlife & tourism assets on its land;
- abundant & reliable fresh water;
- marine environments;
- reliable solar & substantial wind
There is therefore potential for cultural development & economic growth.
Oman Ghana Baako asserts that:
- corruption is ubiquitous in Ghana & impedes development;2
- corruption can be
There is therefore potential for public engagement, particularly with our young.
Oman Ghana Baako asserts that basic social entitlements include:
- safety;
- clean water;
- food;
- clothing;
- accommodation;
- health care;
- education;
- employment;
- transport;
- energy;
Oman Ghana Baako asserts that minimization of corruption & assurance of basic entitlements will transform Ghanaian self-belief & performance.
Program Details
Identifying & deploying resources
Ghana’s material resources are well documented by numerous domestic & international studies.
Its human & cultural resources are more difficult to quantify: we know how many Ghanaians there are & our population age profile3, but the range & relevance of knowledge & skills, in our rapidly changing economic & cultural environment, are elusive. Our young population is inherently more flexible than if we were older, encountering & adapting more easily to novelty.
Oman Ghana Baako observes a high degree of adaptability, initiative & technological literacy in our youth. Many are unemployed; of those employed, many are working below their skill level & capacity.4 We therefore identify Ghana’s youth as our primary resource. Their engagement & mobilization promise plentiful capacity to develop our material, intellectual & cultural resources for the common good of all Ghanaian society.
Confronting Corruption
Corruption is the practice of demanding or accepting informal payment for access to goods, services & opportunities. Every Ghanaian encounters this, from petty officials & police in the street to the highest officials with whom they have contact in government, business, community organisations, courts, even traditional leaders.
Corruption also takes the form of nepotism. Relatives & friends of incumbents gain preferential access to goods, services & opportunities.5 This practice is sometimes multi-generational.
In short, those with money &/or contacts come first; those without feel excluded. Youth unemployment & underemployment is high6; many see running away as their only hope.
Corruption has existed in all developing societies & has been successfully confronted in those reaching maturity. Subduing corruption; reliable protection for ‘whistle-blowers’; rule of law; safety for residents & investors: these are necessary stages of development through which Ghana is still progressing. Such battles never end. They are necessarily internal but also increasingly global.
Oman Ghana Baako will study & implement best practices from historical & contemporary foreign experience, adapting them to the specifics of Ghanaian culture & tradition.
Corruption is a disorder of governance. Governance is broader than government, including also markets, business, civil organisations (churches, clubs, cooperatives, charities, NGOs like Oman Ghana Baako) & semi-autonomous institutions like schools & universities.
Oman Ghana Baako intends to work with government to develop & implement civic education throughout Ghanaian society. We will produce modules for inclusion in school curricula; others for delivery in workplace training; others for delivery via print, radio & television; on-line versions accessible to all at any time; our speakers will be available for interview & public speaking.
People need to recognise, refuse & report corruption wherever they encounter it.
To work with government, Oman Ghana Baako will develop its negotiating resources, products & delivery processes to align with both national & local government structures as they now exist & will evolve. We must work at the level on which decisions are made; we must be accountable to the people affected by those decisions as we seek to reform them.
Oman Ghana Baako reserves the right & asserts its obligation to implement the civic education aspects of its program independently. We understand that access to schools, workplaces, media & community fora will not always be welcomed. Corruption is deeply entrenched; it has access to power, authority & resources.
Social Services (entitlements)
Lifetime assurance of access to basic social entitlements is the core of Oman Ghana Baako’s program.
Oman Ghana Baako asserts that it is fundamental to the health of any society that social entitlements extend to all members.
Lifetime program structure:
- Pre-natal maternal health care & education;
- ‘day one’ provisions for newborns & their mothers;
- Registration in a national database;
- Post-natal maternal & child health care;
- Primary education (common foundations);
- Secondary education (divergent interests);
- Tertiary education (university, technical, skilled);
- Pre-employment support (internships, apprenticeships);
- Continuing education & training (working life);
- Accommodation (social housing);
- Finance (living, entrepreneurship);
- Retirement pension;
- Elderly in-home & institutional care;
- Funeral
Pre-natal maternal health care & education enable:
- detection of foetal abnormalities & provision of appropriate advice to mothers;
- detection of health problems during pregnancy that might threaten healthy delivery or maternal safety;
- mothers to know what to do (exercise, nutrition) & what to avoid (alcohol & other drugs); what to expect during pregnancy, delivery & immediately
Role of Ghanaian diaspora
Ghana Baako hopes to secure the intellectual, moral & financial support of its diaspora for our program, Ghana Can Be Better & to encourage those who are able, to return to Ghana before retirement from public or commercial life, bringing & sharing their experience & knowledge.
The number of Ghanaians living in foreign countries varies over time & depending upon who is counted. It almost certainly exceeds one million (about 4% = 1 in every 25 of our population). About one quarter of this number live in USA alone.7 Many of these are educated young people, accepting or seeking opportunities for themselves & their families that they believe, until now rightly, are not available at home.
Oman Ghana Baako seeks to change this by improving opportunities for youth at home. Those who accept career opportunities abroad must always be free to do so; those who leave merely in the hope that ‘the grass is greener’ in Europe or elsewhere must be encouraged & enabled to meet their needs at home, to contribute to Ghanaian society. One either builds another nation or builds one’s own.
Oman Ghana Baako recognises that many of Ghana’s million or so expatriates contribute substantially to their families & communities at home. By recruiting our diaspora, we anticipate that significant numbers will inform & engage their families & communities in support of our program.
Sources
1 Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100 https://www.populationpyramid.net/ghana/2100/
2 Yen. Michael Hammond
https://yen.com.gh/116243-ghana-ranked-countries-lowest-government-integrity.html#116243 3 Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100 https://www.populationpyramid.net/ghana/2017/
4 Developing Country Studies, www.iiste.org
George Domfe(PhD Student), Robert Darko Osei(PhD) and Charles Ackah (PhD)
ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) ,Vol.3, No.12, 2013
http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/bitstream/handle/123456789/6237
5 GhanaWeb, adomonline.com , 16 November 2018 https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Corruption-watch-Akufo-Addo-leads-in- nepotism-chart-701438
6 DailyGuideNetwork, Melvin Tarlue, 29 September 2016 http://dailyguideafrica.com/youth-unemployment-ghanas-major-challenge-acet/ 7 Rockefeller Foundation-Aspen Institute Diaspora Program
The Ghanaian Diaspora in the United States, May 2015 Revised https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/select-diaspora-populations-united-states#GH
