An Invitation to Join the Youth in Building Ghana

Fellow Citizens,

We hope you accept our invitation to participate in a campaign for the development of Ghana and the African continent at large. 

In the past, we have underestimated the power and influence of the youth in politics. This is a new era and I am sure you are aware of it. The wind of change keeps blowing around democracies in the world. The one thing this wind carries, which is common to all democracies, is the impact of the youth in the campaign for change.

In relation to our own party, we always complain, or at least the people we speak to, complain that the Ghanaian youth are not influential enough in the Party. That may be true to some extent. Those who rebut such an assertion state the universities have strong student organizations which participate in politics. The question we should ask ourselves is, "should that be where it stops"?

The development of Ghana is in the hands of the "cheetah generation" – to borrow the words of George Ayittey. That is, you and I and every young Ghanaian. We share a common vision. And for those who live outside Ghana, the vision gets clearer each day as we realise that the development of Ghana lies not in the foreign aid and international financial institutions but in the hands of Ghanaians.

We hope you join us. Once a member of the group, you shall receive information about this branch of our party. We aim to have a very organized and influential wing. We'll need your support throughout the process.

If you believe in Ghana's development and want to be a part of it, then look nowhere else. Spread the word to your friends, acquaintances and family. We hope to count on you for financial support when the time comes. In return, we promise to deliver a wing of the party which will serve the greater interest of Ghana.

For now, spread the word. We also encourage you to visit this page at least once a day. We will keep you updated on news in Ghana and within the party. We will also update you on events you can attend. If you wish to formally join the NPP Youth UK, kindly send us an email at nppyouthuk@gmail.com and we will send you a copy of the form to fill.

We look forward to working with you to return development in freedom back into power. The future is now. Let us solve today's problems with today's solutions.

Yours faithfully,

NPP Youth UK.

African Politics does not need Pensioners.

It is not a disputed fact and I hope readers will not dispute the statement that a majority of African leaders are over 50 years old. The reason, I am sure, is deeply rooted in African culture i.e. the elderly are deemed to be very wise and cannot be challenged by anyone else except someone of the same age group or even older. It therefore goes without saying that African culture places emphasis on the respect for the person with the greyest hair. Or maybe not as my brother, the youngest of us all, has the greyest hair.

But you get the point I am trying to make. If not then the point I am making is “with age comes great respect” regardless of the person’s background. That is not a bad thing and I am not saying the elderly do not deserve the respect they are due as a result of their age. The justification for the respect accorded to age lies with the fact that a person acquires vast experience as they grow older. True. And the next generation can certainly benefit from their experience. Again, this is very much true and I agree.

So then what is my problem you may ask? Why is Kow Essuman writing this piece if he agrees that "with age comes experience and respect"? Simple – Africans tend to be less interested or not interested in politics until they hit 40 years and in some cases 50 years. And those with presidential ambitions wait until they are over 60 years before realising their ambition. This is wrong. Why should people nearing their pension age or people past pension age be making decisions for a country? Africa does not need leaders who are continuously ill, unfit or die whilst in office.

To solve a problem, you must first understand the problem. Most of today's problems require today's solutions. Yet we elect leaders from yesterday. How do we expect them to solve today's problems with yesterday's solutions? That is even if they understand today's problems. Even if they were to solve today's problems with yesterday's solutions, I can guarantee that it would be at a snail's pace. Africa can never be economically independent at such a pace.

So what am I proposing? The youth should be encouraged to participate in government not just voting and campaigning. They should be an integral part of the administration of the country. That way today's problems will be solved by people who understand today's problems and with solutions which are today's solution. It will also prepare the youth who have presidential aspirations to gain practical governing experience so they can be ready to govern when the time comes. Not when they hit their pension age.

The youth should be encouraged right from when they attain voting age or even earlier. It would interest you to know that a majority of electorates are the youth. So why then do we have pensioners in government? I may be called disrespectful for some of the statements in this piece and that is one of Africa's problems – the elderly can never be criticised by the young. Well, this is severely hindering our progress so it must cease.

To end this, I introduce an organization committed to ensuring that the youth are not just dormant participants in politics but very active participants even at the administrative level – NPP Youth UK. I strongly suggest that if you believe in solving Africa's problems, you join this group. To join, simply send an email to nppyouthuk@gmail.com indicating your intention to join. Let us solve today's problems with today's solutions.

Written and Edited by:

Kow A. Essuman Esq.

LL.B. Hons (Westminster), PgDip (BPP), LL.M. (Cornell)

Barrister-at-Law (Lincoln's Inn)

Attorney and Counselor-at-Law (New York)

All comments, corrections and contributions should be sent to kaessuman@yahoo.com.

This post is based on the thoughts, observations and opinions of Kow A. Essuman Esq. Any attempt to reproduce all or any part of this article without the express permission of the above named person shall be an infringement of intellectual property laws; following which the author reserves the right to commence an action/suit against any such person(s) or body for breach of copyright and/or any other action/suit the author sees fit.