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GHANA’S HISTORIC HOMECOMING-SUMMIT EVENT: AN OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION AND CHALLENGE TO GHANA-U.S.A. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE(GUSACC)

by Dr. George Ossei Asibey-Mensah

How memorable it was, to me, to be among some anxious and enthusiastic Ghanaians the Diaspora gathered with fellow compatriots, at the magnificent International Conference Center in Accra on Monday, July 23, 2001! Indeed, the psychological relief and thrill that we felt and also sweetly and breezily swept through both inside and outside the hall, as well as the pride and excitement with which fellow brother and sisters comfortably and majestically found seats in the hall, were beyond description.

The President, Vice President, Members of the Counci1 of State, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, Chiefs, members of the diplomatic corps, the media, entrepreneurs, and the target audience, of Ghanaians residing outside Ghana convened on that historic day to start a dialogue that is unprecedented in Ghana’s history.” For many reasons, I ca11 this first meeting to be the start of a dialogue and I hope that those who will read this article will contribute to this dialogue via both spiritual and physical involvement in the economy of our New Ghana.

The time was 7:15 a.m., and taxis, cars, and buses converged the area between the Accra Sports Stadium, the State House, and the International Conference Center. It was clothing galore: women and men in elegant traditional clothes, women and men in timely bliss and joy symbolic of the scene of a wedding to which everyone was invited. What a fulfilling sight! Following the initial welcome by the chair of the organizing committee, as well as presentations by fellow Ghanaians, President Kufuor formally opened the Summit with a 25-minute address in which he challenged us all to “be connected, not disconnected,” appropriately, invoking the true story at a London shop involving a Ghanaian visitor to London and a girl born in Britain to Ghanaian parents. In sum, the President challenged us to step up our appreciable role in the economy via remittances to relatives and be physically involved in the reconstruction of the economy of our country via opening business concerns that would employ and sustain Ghanaians. (Last year, such remittances tallied S400 million, third only to gold and cocoa revenues, respectively $700 million and $500 million.) The assumption here is that the government cannot do it all alone. Others, including members of his government and the minority leader (oh, he almost “killed the show” with his political rhetoric!), spoke after him. The point of all those speeches was this: Because the state of Ghana is not the best, it behooves each one of us to be part of this serious reconstruction process. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, to say the least.

Besides the challenging speeches made at the Homecoming Summit, what made my visit to Ghana more meaningful were: my role as a member of the delegation from Chicago Mayor Daley’s office to meet the President and his Vice, and Mayor Solomon Darko of Accra (Chicago and Accra are sister cities), my personal conversations with the President, Vice President, cabinet ministers, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and the mayors of Kumasi (Maxwell “Kofi Ghana” Jumah, my buddy since infancy and, in particular, my Prempeh College days) and Accra, Solomon Darko, who described my father, the establisher of the National Liberation Movement (NLM), as “the most energetic man on earth.” Because of the meeting with the Otumfuo on July 27, the delegation, including Chuck Bowen (Executive Assistant to Mayor Daley) and his beautiful wife, Robert Bennett (Ghana’s honorary consul general for Chicago and the Midwest had then left Ghana for South Africa), and Wiafe Bonsu, was interviewed by the The Pioneer, featuring us in its August 2 issue. Another consequence of the meeting with the Otumfuo was the paper’s exclusive interview with me, which was published August 2, 2001.

Specifically, the newspaper highlighted my reactions to the Homecoming summit. It also clarified my leadership and non-political role in Ghana-U.S.A. Chamber of Commerce (GUSACC), with which Ghanaians are now familiar as a very important liaison between Ghanaian and American private, nonprofit, and public organization seeking partners to establish, develop, and/or sustain their activities. After my interview with The Pioneer, fifty (50) Ghana-based businesses registered as members of GUSACC, an entity the inauguration of which has been timely in terms of its serious pledge to being a committed broker in the socio-economic development and growth of the new Ghana. Additionally, facilitating the registration of these fine businesses were my comments made during receptions held in our honor by Mayor Jumah at the Pink Panther Hotel, as well as at the RexMar Hotel, where prominent Ashanti entrepreneurs were introduced to our Chicago delegation. Mrs. Bowen was the hostess of the event, in which her husband, Chuck, addressed the large audience about Mayor Daley’s continuous and diligent efforts to improve the living conditions of African Americans, as well other minorities residing within the Chicago Metro area. Chuck, you were superb! Does Mayor Daley know this?

Let me now conclude my narration with a brief statement about the significance of this historic Homecoming Summit. The brainchild of the NDC government, it was nonetheless, clear that attendance or the audience size would have been sorrowful, if not sadly insignificant, had it been held during that government’s era. However, the event spiritually and physically connected Ghanaians in the Diaspora and the Kufuor government, a government that people continually appreciate as the best country has had in its history, particularly because of its avowed and overt policy of zero tolerance of corruption.

I will use two (2) recent cases to support my point. What did President Kufuor do when word reached him that Isaac Edumadze, the Central Regional Minister, had overused his powers in his interaction with a Suhum taxi driver? He immediately summoned him to his office, the State House, reprimanding him and making him apologize to the driver. What happened when Alhaji Issa, a cabinet minister, who was alleged to have stole $46,000 meant to be distributed to the Black Stars as bonus in a match in the Sudan? President Kufuor never tampered with justice, allowing the judiciary to conduct its own swift investigation, leading to the minister’s imprisonment of at most six (6) years.

On the eve of my departure from Ghana, it was revealed that the minister was “innocent” and investigations were under way to expose the real culprits. How may times have you heard a government, only six (6) months into its administration, allow its judicial arm to deliberate independently of the executive branch, particularly in a case that maligns its name? Such is the caliber of the government that Ghanaians have in Kufuor’s administration.

In addition to the government of integrity, credibility and competence that Ghanaians are now blessed to have, the success of the Homecoming Summit has made clear that Ghanaians love their homeland, and will return home and/or contribute regularly as trusted and reliable partners in the nation’s reconstruction process, consciously bearing in mind that Kufuor cannot do it all alone. After all, what government in today’s very turbulent world can do it all alone? Additionally important is the challenge to Ghanaians that President Kufuor and his government reiterated during the Summit, and reinforce in their daily communications to the people, namely, Ghanaians in the Diaspora constitute a major dependable human resource element in the country’s wish and desire to continually improve economically. The undeniable point here is the important reference to the simple challenge posed to all of us overseas. What have we done for Ghana lately, or, what will we plan for Ghana, particularly not as individuals but as groups with similar, nationally-benefits to the land, we all claim to love and cherish? To sum up, what are we going to do to help actualize President Kufuor’s policies of national reconstruction and, thus, continually increase the psychological relief that Ghanaians now enjoy because of his sweet swearing in on Sunday, January 7, 2001.

Let us dialogue as true Ghanaians! Let us dialogues as groups, not as individuals! As we do so, let us involve Ghana-U.S.A Chamber of Commerce, the nonpartisan and competent organization with no affiliation with/to GUSACC. Please remember that GUSACC has been founded solely to assist you with the developing and nurturing of your ideas purporting to promote new Ghana’s economic and social growth. GUSACC is a nonprofit organization with no affiliation with/to any political party or organization(s) and is accordingly, duly empowered by Illinois Secretary of State to assist you. Please call us at (312) 220- 0808 or at (219) 980-7102.

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