The Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer Protection Agency, Kofi Owusu Hene, popularly known as Kofi Kapito, has lamented what he describes as the steep decline in Ghana’s development over the decades.
Speaking on JoyNews’s AM Show on Tuesday, August 12, the outspoken consumer rights advocate recalled a period in his youth when Ghana, in his view, was far more advanced than it is today.
“Ghana was developed before this nonsense of Ghana happening,” he said.
He reminisced about a vibrant and efficient railway system, which he used on several occasions, and a well-organised public bus service in urban areas where drivers strictly adhered to timetables.
“When I was a kid, I used to look at the time when the bus was coming because the bus would show up on time. At 12 o’clock, the post office alarm will go on for people to know that it’s noon.”
“As a little kid, Boys’ Brigade in Kumasi, we went for an excursion to Takoradi harbour. We went by train from Kumasi to Takoradi. When my mother was bringing me to Accra at the age of 11, we came in a train; there was a train linking Kumasi and Accra. So to me, I expect by now that trains should have been everywhere in Ghana because the way we started at the age of 11, look at me now,” he lamented.
Public infrastructure, he said, was adequate, and the country was on a better developmental path.
Mr Kapito alleged that Ghana’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when the military interrupted the democratic process. Since then, he argued, corruption, questionable government appointments, deteriorating road networks, the collapse of the railways, and poor sanitation management have plagued the nation.
“When the democratic process was truncated by the military intervention, the military people could have done better, but they chose not”, he claimed when questioned at what time he thought the country started to retrogress.
Drawing a stark contrast with the past, he recalled a time when sweeping machines were used to clean the streets of Accra, the national capital, rather than elderly citizens being tasked with such labour.
“Even back then, on the Ring Road, early in the morning, you would see a sweeping truck sweeping the road, now you will see elderly women, at 5 am in the morning, they are with a broom, when we used to have a truck, 50 years ago and you are telling me we compare apple and oranges?”
He emphasised, “We have lost it as a country, and until we admit that we did better and we can do better,” things may not work out.
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