My interaction with a few people in Ghana revealed, not too many of us knew the United Kingdom had a Minister for Africa whose key duties among others is to improve and promote commercial and political ties between the UK and other African nations. This post is specifically composed to provide you with as much information as possible regarding the position and of course the personality supposed to be the 'God father of Africa in the UK'.The UK Minister for Africa's position rests under the arms of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), commonly abbreviated as "Foreign Secretary", currently headed by William Hague the Foreign Secretary of State . The core objective of this Office is to promote the interests of the United Kingdom overseas. If you are in Africa the one you should familiarize yourself with is Henry Bellingham, the UK Minister for Africa.
Henry Bellingham was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 14 May 2010. The 55-year old Parliamentarian has been involved in UK parliamentary matters since his first election to the UK parliament in 1983. Henry Bellingham visited Ghana on February 17th and 18th after a short visit to Nigeria. He gave a speech at the Institute of Economic Affairs (I.E.A) on 18th February, a function I was privileged to attend. A full transcript of his speech can be obtained here.
The question now is , 'how can Ghanaians extract the full benefits of our long term relationship with the UK'? By ''Ghanaian people'', I mean the ordinary Ghanaian on the streets of this middle-income nation. Visits by such high dignitaries go unnoticed and to the ordinary Ghanaian it is just another meeting of politicians who discuss issues out of their concern.
A solution to this problem is to use all available channels to sensitize and inform the general public (at least those who care to know) when such issues of relevance are discussed in our own backyard. After all the Department for International Development (DFID) is about the masses and not just about the top-level local politicians. Spread the word and spread it as far as you can, the more Ghanaians know about the roles they have to play in such circumstances, the higher the likelihood of our nation attaining the goals we set for ourselves.
I don't fall easily for such things as "to improve and promote commercial and political ties between the UK and other African nations". It is so false and I really do not want to even think about them. If they had not euphemised it and had said in charge of 'pillage and plunder' perhaps I would understand. If you keep turning your head too often you would lose your way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Nana. One thing you haven't revealed though is the reason(s) behind your mistrust for such foreign positions. Let us know what your findings are.
ReplyDeleteNice post Edward...almost forgot this position existed. Naturally, the UK has it's foreign policy interests and we can't begrudge them. Neither can we determine their actions within the international arena. But we can control our own manoeuvrings in this relationship and I believe that's where our focus shd be.
ReplyDeleteVery good point Etse. It is natural for the UK government to expect returns for their assistance. I o think though, that if Ghana does not place itself on the appropriate platform, we might never break-even in these partnerships. The citizens need to be involved in all such discussions, so they would be sensitized on what they can do to help in such partnerships. It shouldn't be just about the politician at the top, Ghana can only change if we engage those at the grassroot, after all they are the ones who matter the most in all policies.
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