68th Independence Anniversary: President unveils vision for self-reliance

President John Dramani Mahama has rallied the nation to support his agenda to reset the country and help it break free from its cycle of dependence on foreign aid. 

In an address to mark the 68th Independence anniversary at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday, the President stated that proclaiming self-reliance while relying on donors was meaningless.

“Proclaiming self-reliance while marching straight back into the hands of the donor agencies, begging bowl in hand, is really meaningless.

To break this cycle of dependence and reset our economy, my administration is formulating policies based on fiscal discipline and living within our means to expand our economy to yield prosperity for all”.

“We must look within and make sure that we are raising revenue domestically,” President Mahama said.

He said discussions about Ghanaians' independence often highlighted reliance on imports, donor aid, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailouts as signs of continued dependence.

"Yet the entire efficacy of this reminder lies not in just repeating it but in our willingness to take decisive action,” he said. 

Vision

President Mahama said his administration was working to implement a 24-hour economy programme to ensure that the economy never went to sleep.

That, he explained, would create the necessary job expansion, boost productivity, increase exports capacity and trade footprints, and also reduce the country’s dependence on foreign aid.

While the $10 billion Big Push initiative would modernise infrastructure, create jobs, stimulate local industry and ensure that development was driven from within rather than funded from outside, President Mahama said agriculture remained “our biggest opportunity to reduce import dependence”.

With over $2 billion spent annually on food imports, the Agriculture for Economic Transformation agenda, another policy of his government, was structured to strengthen local agribusiness and ensure food security, he said.

The President named other initiatives as the Feed Ghana programme and the Poultry Farm to Table initiative, otherwise referred to as Nkukor Nkete Nkete programme, which would boost domestic poultry production and processing to directly address our 95 per cent reliance on imported poultry products.

President Mahama stressed, however, that the success of those policies would depend on active citizen participation, particularly from our young people.

“My brothers and sisters, this is a defining moment, but policies alone, no matter how well couched and no matter how well intentioned, will not change our reality. Action will change that reality,” he stated.

President Mahama pledged to take the necessary actions to create growth opportunities and enhance economic independence. He, therefore, entreated young Ghanaians to step up to the plate, seize those opportunities, and contribute to building a self-sufficient nation.

Parade

The 68th Independence celebration ceremony was for the first time in decades observed with a parade mounted only by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) at the Jubilee House.

The Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang; the former President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, who was the special guest of honour, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, and the Chairman of the Council of State, Edward Doe Adjaho, took part in the commemoration.

It also attracted former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor (2001- 2009) and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (2017- 2025).

Scaled down to save cost, the event was also a gathering of invited dignitaries from the current and past governments, security chiefs, political parties, the clergy, traditional leaders, the diplomatic corps, the business community, and schoolchildren. It was on the theme, “Reflect, Review and Reset”.

The parade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Enoch Rafik Wehkole Awudu, had three Contingents drawn from the Ghana Armed Forces. 

Scaled down

President Mahama reflected on Ghana’s progress since independence and said the celebration was a reminder of the nation’s struggles for freedom and self-rule.

"It reinforces our national identity, our unity and patriotism while offering a moment for reflection on our progress and the challenges ahead," he said.

However, he added, it would have been “unconscionable” to spend GH¢20 million on the Independence Day celebration as was done in the past considering the nation’s current economic crisis.

“This is necessary considering the economic crisis our nation is currently experiencing. Large-scale celebrations often come with significant security and infrastructure costs, which strain the national budget”.

“By reducing the scale of the commitment, we wish to demonstrate a commitment to fiscal responsibility and the efficient use of our limited resources,” President Mahama said.

Nkrumah’s vision

President Mahama recalled Ghana's history, saying Dr Kwame Nkrumah envisioned "an industrialised, self-reliant Ghana whose citizens had the highest standard of economic life and the greatest sense of self-esteem rooted in patriotism and Pan-African unity."

Though his overthrow on February 24, 1966, shattered that dream and plunged the country into decades of instability and military takeovers, President Mahama emphasised that "the verdict of history is now loud and clear" on this matter.

He said the independence commemoration sparked a series of historical events that significantly delayed Ghana's progress, saying "these independence anniversaries must therefore be a moment of reflection, not on what we have done for ourselves but on how well we have stewarded national assets for those we will hand them over to in the future."

President Mahama called on Ghanaians to strive for more, saying "Our story cannot be one of missed opportunities; it will be one of continued efforts to achieve far more than we can boast of now."

He warned, however, that "posterity will not accept our failures or take them kindly."