Founder of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom will not entertain parades of schoolchildren during Independence Day celebration if he becomes president of Ghana.

“If I get the chance, the parades will be thrown into the dustbin not to be repeated,” he said in his Independence Day message on Facebook.

Ghana marked 59 years of independence on Sunday March 6. President John Mahama urged Ghanaians to put their nation first and foster unity in moving the country forward because Ghana’s failures and successes belong to every citizen.

In his message, Dr Nduom said there was a lot of work to be done before Ghana could be said to be truly independent.

“The promise made at independence to prove that we are capable of managing our own affairs has not been kept,” he said.

He urged Ghanaians to choose leaders, who will not oppress them in the November polls.

In his view, independence must lead to a better quality of life, a great and strong nation, and a prosperous people.

Read full unedited post below

Independence?

Ghana is now 59 years old and yes, we should celebrate it. It is good to be an independent nation with the freedom to make our own choices. This is another opportunity to thank our founding men and women, all of them, for the sacrifices they made to launch this nation, Ghana.

But we must know that we have a lot more work to do to become truly independent. The promise made at independence to prove that we are capable of managing our own affairs has not been kept.

We the people live with a Constitution, designed by us that denies the people independence – the right to elect our own local chief executives. We still struggle with Pneumococcal Meningitis, needless death through road accidents from a lack of good emergency medical care and the majority of our children do not go on to high school. The quality of Ghanaian life for the most of our people is not good and has not seen any marked improvement in decades.

Our government has chosen to solve its incompetent handling of the nation's finances by piling on more taxes on the shoulders of the few businesses and employees known to the system. The high cost of doing business in Ghana is making our goods and services uncompetitive, resulting in increasing imports.

Luckily, the people have another opportunity this year to choose leaders, who will not oppress their own people. I pray that Ghanaians elect leaders, who will free the people and unleash their enterprise.

Independence must lead to a better quality of life, a great and strong nation and a prosperous people. We can do this.

And no more parades of schoolchildren. Community celebrations to remember our history and the work ahead of us to build a better future, yes. If I get the chance, the parades will be thrown into the dustbin not to be repeated.