Everyday we are somewhere begging for help

A communicator for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Addo, has urged successive governments to adopt a more sustainable approach to national development and move away from what he describes as a begging culture.

According to him, Ghana is always somewhere begging for help which should not be the case. He said Ghana ought to build itself in a way that allows the nation to stand on its own, so that when other countries come, it will be because they want to do business with us, not because we are seeking aid.

“Everyday we are somewhere begging for help. Virtually everybody has a problem with that but we should be able to grow our country to the extent that we can live on our own, so that if anybody is coming here, it is because they want to do business with us,” he stressed.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Tuesday, 26 August, 2025, Addo expressed concern that Ghana has become overly dependent on external support, constantly turning to foreign governments and institutions for aid and loans.

“Anytime we want to do something in this country, we have to go outside and look for support”.

He argued that while foreign partnerships and investments are necessary in today’s globalized world, Ghana must ensure such engagements are structured to generate value rather than piling up unsustainable debts. He lamented that infrastructure projects funded by long-term loans often deteriorate before repayment is completed.

“It’s painful when we take a 20-year loan to construct a road that lasts only five years. We end up borrowing again to repair the same road while still servicing the old debt. That is unacceptable,” he noted.

He further recalled instances where donor conditions undermined Ghana’s sovereignty, citing the late President Mills’ administration when, according to him, the British government attempted to tie aid to LGBTQ+ acceptance.

Ernerst Addo maintained that while visits to developed nations such as Japan and Singapore are not inherently wrong, they should be focused on learning and technology transfer rather than seeking bailouts.

“Countries like Singapore and Japan are ahead in terms of technology and cleanliness. We can learn from them, but I am not a fan of governments always going abroad cap-in-hand to borrow money. If you keep begging every day, people will begin to look at you with disrespect,” he cautioned.

The NPP communicator emphasized the need for Ghana to harness its natural resources, including oil and gold, more effectively to finance its own development and reduce dependence on foreign loans.