Fellow countrymen, kindly lend me your ears. I have always said that, the cockerel will never stop crowing until even the dead hear its voice. It is a voice that the righteous and concerned citizens of our country will like to hear. It is a voice that the evil will never like to hear. But that evil, in our country, ladies and gentlemen, will one-day be forced to hear that voice of the “New African”. I know that the more I talk, the more the enemy will like to come to see beaten. The enemy will enjoy seeing me crucified that day, as they danced and sang songs on the eve of Kwame Nkrumah´s crucifixion. But behold, no weapon that shall be raised against the voice of the New African shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against the freedom fighters in judgement, will be condemned. For it is said: the evil that men do, will forever be seared in the mind of that evil”.

Fellow countrymen, as we all know, a poor and visionless country like our beloved Ghana, is about to celebrate her so-called Independence day on the 6th of March 2007. An independence that no clear minded citizen will be proud to celebrate if he/she is faithful and could remember our painful and uncompleted self-reliance attempt. Should such a celebration demonstrate the day the country stood still 50 years ago, without knowing what had happened to it, or it is going to be a day Ghanaians are going to jump to heavens and be proud of our economic, social and political achievements, or it is going to be a day of mourning when we remember how our hope for a developed Ghana was brought to a halt by our good wishers? Those our leaders sat in primary class one classroom have now completed their university education in politics and economy, whiles our wicked and selfish leaders are still languishing in the corners of the imperialist begging them for our daily bread. I hope you all know those countries we started our independence, and I need not to bourn your years again with.

Perhaps some of my fellow Ghanaians for whatsoever reason, may not be interested to know whether we deserve to celebrate such an occasion or not. They will prefer celebrating it regardless what had happened to us 50 years ago. They will not care about such painful episode, and will not care about the 40 percent of our population still living in poverty and earning less than $ 1 a day. Our wicked politicians now smell a booty amount of 20 million Dollars, which its source has not yet been disclosed. This booty is set aside for this purpose, and ironically, a country that claimed to be independent cannot feed his own people, neither can we increase our industries, pay our workers, provide quality healthcare, good drinking water, affordable education, electricity, left alone thinking about doing away with stealing of national coffers, corruption, murder, lies and wickedness. And when such an amount is made available, they will prefer to spend it as a form of a prestige. They will like to show the whole world how our children our enjoying free education, good health care and having gainful employment. The British and American’s can celebrate their 500 or more years of independence at anytime whiles their people are sharing their blood and killing innocent civilians in Iraq for oil sake. They can jubilate and spend whatever money they need because they can print it themselves. I hope Ghanaians will also be dancing around the clock at the eve, with the hope that our disgruntle politicians will promise them of exploring oil in the coming years and Ghana will become one of the first class country at the west coast whose social and economic power will comparable to the Asian tiger we once sat in the same class room with. God have mercy on us.

Today the same short-sighted politicians who thought they knew it all better, cannot tell us how many industries were left in their custody after they have taken over leadership on the 24th February 1966, neither can they list the number of industries and other infrastructures they have so-far added to what they inherited. How many government schools have they added to those they inherited? When we think about the many innocent blood sacrifices, we can record from history that about 1.600 (Thousand six hundred) men and women including faithful military personnel were massacred during the uprising of NLM era whiles the Americans, the British, the French and Germans congratulated them for this heinous crime. Someone can as well record those who lost their lives during the AFRC military juntas where the British, the Americans and the French again welcomed such unlawful atrocities wholeheartedly. One will ask if our colonial masters will ever wish the African anything better than dividing and ruling us? Will they be expecting us to avoid tribal wars that result in sharing innocent blood for our shrines? Will they teach the poor African how to develop and manage his own political, economic and social affair, and be able to dictate prices for his raw material and hard labour? How should they? They are the monsters that live and develop their countries with the flesh and blood of the weaker Africans as the lion lives and enjoys on the weaker animals. I don’t think they will be naïve to see this happen in the million years to come. Ghanaians have paid a bitter price for their independence with the hope for a better future. But today after 50 years, can Ghanaians be awarded with such a ceremony? One may ask where our leaders got this money from, and how will it be spent and be monitored?

Our colonial masters never wanted the African to develop for fear that the day the eyes of the African will be wide opened to see clearly, it might result to the end of their neo-colonialism on our continent. This I could recollect when I was cast in jail of justice. When I was in jail, I once asked the policeman how much could I pay for my freedom? In his response, he said son, your tears will not pay!, but it is education that shall set you free, --and unless the eyes of the African is wide opened through education, so long shall your continent remain a prey for the imperialist. His perception reminded me when the Americans, British, French and the Germans mounted a powerful coup with the help of our own military stooges to oust the regime of Kwame Nkuumah, claiming that he was becoming an enemy and a threat to the western powers by associating Ghana’s independence and developing efforts with the Soviet Union and the Chinese who were said to be enemies of the west. They accused him for hesitating to be a slave in tranquillity, but preferred to develop his country with whoever is ready to help him. They joined Ghanaians and chanted, “Crucify him!, Crucify him!, and he was crucified. That was how far he could go with his vision for Ghana and Africa. They thought they were harming him, but not knowing that they were harming their our country.

Today after his crucifixion, the same people who some are alive today and serving in politics whose names are with held, were among those who condoned and connived with our enemies to derail our development policies. They are now trotting round the world, begging and dining with the same communist countries that were said to be then enemies to the west. One may now ask these wicked politicians whether they have their eyes now wide open to see the damage they did to their own country, and willing to apologise for the killing of Kwame Nkrumah who foresaw that Ghana should be free to manage his own affairs? Can they admit their failure? Will they remember Nkrumah in this celebration and respect his funeral celebration, which is long over due? These offspring’s will never do because of the shame they have brought to their own people. Let us see whether the Americans, British, French and the Germans will have any qualms about Ghana now dining and borrowing money from their so-called political enemies, (The communist). Will they again mount a coup with the help of the same Ghanaian soldiers to oust the present regime? We live to see, ladies and gentlemen.

Fellow countrymen, less than a year ago, the Chinese President Hu Jintao was said to have toured most of the Africa countries aimed at building a stream of business deals and aid pledges, which will be part of a flood of Chinese largess towards the world’s poorest continent. African governments, which Ghana is also among, generally welcome the growth in Chinese economic ties, which thus far has centred on oil and other raw materials and are free of the political conditions often imposed by Western countries.

It is said that at a landmark Sino-African summit in Beijing last year, Mr. Hu offered $5 billion in loans and credit to Africa along with a doubling of aid. Two-way trade, meanwhile, rose from about $3 billion in 1995 to $40 billion in 2005 and is expected to reach $100 billion by 2010. China already has pumped about $6 billion in investments into the continent. And for what purpose? For TEE-PARTY?

Analysts increasingly warn that poor African countries may come out the losers unless they carefully examine the deals with China and protect their weak manufacturing sectors from a flood of cheaper Chinese imports. Will these shortsighted politicians ever have eyes to see the danger ahead? They will never remember what Kwame Nkrumah said about neo-colonialism when he said: “Neo colonialism is the most powerful threat for African development, and unless we meet this obvious and very powerful threat with a unified African front, based upon a common economic and defence policy, their strategy will be to pick us off and destroy us one by one” He added by saying: “As I am concerned, death cannot extinguish the flame that I have lit in Africa. Long after I am gone, the torch that I have lit will continue to burn to give hope and encouragement to many”. And this is rightly true that today, Ghana, and for that matter Africans, have grown to see the damage they have done to their own so-called independence and now yearning to have such a person with a vision to help them out of the political doldrums. Are Ghanaians not still being treated after 50 of so-called independence as slaves in tranquillity?

Fellow countrymen, throughout the pages of history, great things have often had small beginnings, and this is where I have to commemorate our dear brother Okyere Bonna for coming out with his book entitled: “A New Agenda for Ghana”. (See www.anewagendaforghana.com). Okyere Bonna has seen the light, and has remembered that it is education that shall help the poor African to open his eyes as the policeman told me in jail. His book is a testimony to the dream of many concern citizens who are yearning for a better future for Ghana and Africa. It is a recognition to the torch Nkrumah was talking about, that after he is gone, that torch (education), will continue to burn to give hope and encourage many like the likes of Prince Aidoo, Okyere Bonna, Auther Kennedy, Spio Gabrah, Ofori Ampofo and many more out there ready to bring a change to our political course. His two books with the same title are calling many more to rise and join to fight neo-colonialism on the soil of Ghana and Africa as a whole. It is about time for those who have experienced the wickedness of today´s politicians to wake-up and join us to liberate our people once again from the shackles of political and religious bondage. You should all help deliver our people from this mental this slavery.

Our independence, ladies and gentlemen, will forever be meaningless if the young generation will stand and stir to see their country being ridiculed by wicked and short-sighted politicians who have nothing to offer their children rather than filling their pockets, selling our raw materials for peanuts, trading in cocaine, corruption, ruling our people with impunity, dividing and ruling our people through tribalism. They do this because they fear the imperialist. A country like ours will never develop if we stay unconcerned and expect visionless politicians to fool us.

Fellow countrymen, I can assure you all with confidence, that many of us will never fold our arms, and expect the imperialist to develop our nation for us, but we will forever be prepared to pay the price it demands to redeem Ghana once again and set it free from oppression and from political bondage. Those who may have any qualms about what Okere Bonna wrote is his book, should use their critics to produce another book aimed at educating us on the way forward; for I say: “Blessed are those who survive with the rhythm of the universe, for their souls shall not envisage the iniquity of nature. Woe betides ye who seek for the natural talent, which is like a dangerous disease within the body that takes several decades to destroy the soul, for ye shall never be free from sorrow, oppression, moral, and the iniquity of nature“. Let us seek for wisdom, which is like that dangerous disease within our body to redeem our people from political bondage and it shall be well with us.

Let us therefore stand up and use our talent to help the youth to know what they should be expecting from the imperialist if they are not informed about their hypocrisy. Kwame Nkrumah will be turning himself in his grave today, if he hears that a bunch of hypocrites are now celebrating something they themselves fought against, and now celebrating such an occasion as if it was their earnings.

Fellow countrymen, one thing is certain, that these disgruntle ones, can run, but they can never hide from justice one-day. I will end by encouraging other critics to come out with alternative books that will enlighten us on the New Agenda for Ghana and for Africa as a whole. God bless you all. God bless Ghana.