Page 122 - Afrika Must Unite

C H A P T E R T H IR T E E N

TOWARDS ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

W h e r e i n d e p e n d e n c e has been preceded by a struggle,
there remains a residue of enthusiasm to start off the new
national existence, which, if properly harnessed and directed,
provides a spur in dealing with the tasks of state building.
However, there is an accompanying lessening of tension, a sense
of pressure eased, a pause for breath after battle. There is a
feeling that, having made the supreme and sustained effort
called for in ridding the country of colonial rule, a well-earned
rest can now be taken.
The government has to make it clear that a new and greater
effort is demanded to consolidate the nationalist victory. The
people have to be fully re-anim ated so that they will drive
forward with zest and courage to a more formidable battle in
which they will be faced with different obstacles and hardships
as the new state develops.
In Ghana, the Convention People’s Party had the task of
rousing the spirit of devotion and sacrifice necessary for the
programme of development which it was given a m andate to
discharge. The pre-independence slogan of ‘Self-Government
Now’ was replaced with that of s e r v e g h a n a n o w . We held
out no glowing hopes of wealth without labour. O n the contrary,
we stressed the need for everyone to work doubly hard now that
we were labouring for ourselves and our children, and not for the
enrichment of the former colonial power. The rewards would be
national and individual dignity, the satisfaction which comes
from creation and a raised standard of life. Foremost of all
would be economic independence, without which our political
independence would be valueless.
U nder colonial rule, a country has very restricted economic