General News of Sunday, 13 October 2013

Source: Joy Online

Ghanaian leaders are intellectually lazy – Dr Kwabena Donkor

Member of Parliament for Pru in the Brong Ahafo region Dr. Kwabena Donkor is blaming the poor state of the Ghana’s economy on what he calls intellectual laziness on the part of our leaders.

According to him, the structure of the country’s economy has remained the same for over a century, a situation he blames on lack of creativity on past and present leaders.

Speaking to Joy News correspondent Elton John Brobbey, Dr. Kwabena Donkor who is also the Chairman of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee said Ghana can address the huge unemployment and create wealth if it starts to add value to its raw materials.

He added: "We are sitting on 1.2 billion tonnes of iron ore in the Northern region, 700 million tonnes of bauxite at Kyebi. If we put our hearts to it, they can serve as the basis of an industrial take-off".

But the MP says leadership lacks the awareness because they "are being intellectually lazy and going for the easier options".

He laments that about 250, 000 students graduate from tertiary institutions looking for jobs, yet the mentality of leadership has not yet found out any new thinking needed to harness resources that can create opportunities for young people.