Inasmuch as the birthday of the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, is worth celebrating to mark his efforts in making Ghana and Africa a showpiece to the world, the 2012 National Best Farmer has urged Ghanaians to rather be in a state of mourning on that commemorative day instead of marking it (Nkrumah’s birthday) in a celebratory mood.
According to Mr. Lemuel Quarshie Martey, the celebration of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s birth will be meaningful if past leaders after him had continued the developmental projects he left behind, especially in the Agriculture sector as that has always been the economic backbone of the country.
Expressing his disappointment in the country’s past leaders for doing little to spearhead the legacy of Ghana’s first President, the 2012 National Best Farmer said Dr. Kwame Nkrumah would be weeping in his grave if he witnesses the neglect of his vision for the Agriculture sector by subsequent leaders.
He maintained that it is disturbing to still depend on the weather to do commercial farming as the irrigation systems started by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah have all been abandoned; revealing a research finding that cassava and cocoyam production will go down due to climate change affecting Africa.
Speaking in an interview on Peace Fm’s Midday News, Mr. Lemuel Quarshie called on the state to mark Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday by invigorating his dysfunctional irrigation production in Ghana as over-dependence on the weather for farming is archaic.
“….We should rather mourn Nkrumah’s birthday than to celebrate his birth… we have failed and killed his vision to make Agriculture the bedrock of the country’s economy. It is sad that we still import foodstuff including plantain, yam, garden eggs and orange despite the fact that we have fertile lands for cultivation,” he lamented.
Former late President Mills during his tenure made the birthday of the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah a national holiday to mark his numerous achievements for the country and Africa at large.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah turns 105 years today, Sunday, September 21, 2014.
Source: GhanaWeb
