Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana, Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, has bemoaned the slow pace of development in Ghana despite the experience of Ghanaian leaders in other developed jurisdictions.
The lecturer, during his preliminary comments on the KeyPoints Saturday, March 2, 2024, noted the rate at which certain countries are developing despite lacking the resource Ghana can boast of.
According to the Political Scientist, democracy, as many presume to be the panacea to development is a facade considering the system of government being practiced in those countries compared to the democracy that exists in Ghana.
Sharing his experience from visiting Saudi Arabia, the Professor said the kind of development he saw made him realise there is only one truth President Akufo-Addo has said in his political life.
“The only truth President Akufo-Addo said that is indutable is “yete sika so…..” and that’s true because we have all the resources here but things are not improving. But elsewhere under dictatorship and Monarchy, people are developing,” he indicated.
Expatiating his argument on how systems are working in Saudi Arabia, he noted that people are working but are not paying taxes because the government uses the oil proceeds to fund its budget, adding that the minimum a worker in the Islamic Republic could be paid is $1,000.
“My friend told me that, here I work but I don’t pay tax and I asked why and he said they use the money they get from the oil to do everything. I’m a University Professor and I don’t get that. And there, the minimum that you can pay a human being who is working is 1000 dollars. He said I’m in an apartment and I don’t pay water bills. The lights don’t go off. I don’t pay water bills. It is about the improving the physical quality of life of your citizens not democracy,” he expressed.
He also cited the pricing of goods and services in dollars which is putting undue pressure on the local currency, saying that in Saudi Arabia, you cannot make transactions with a foreign currency but rather their local medium of exchange.
“There you cannot be pricing in dollars like we do here. I carried dollars and they say what is this? They want their money not the dollars,” Prof. Gyampo indicated.
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