SPEAKERS at the maiden seminar of the Atta-Mills Institute (AMI) have said Ghanaians need mindset transformation to spur the development of the country else the desired growth would not be realised despite the country’s potential and resources.
They said the mindset transformation was needed more in areas including politics, governance, health, sanitation, religion and culture where the country was fast losing its values and identity and was therefore unable to make gains for socioeconomic growth.
The speakers included Samuel Koku Anyidoho, founder and Chief Executive Officer of AMI and former Presidential Aide/ Head of Communication at the Presidency during the administration of the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills in whose honour the institute was set up in 2017.
Others were Rev. Dr Emmanuel Tsegah, Principal Medical Officer, University of Ghana (UG) Health Services; Rev. Dr Elias Kwaku Asiama, Lecturer , UG School of Performing Arts and Nene Nagai Kassa VIII, Senior Divisional Chief in the Shai Traditional Area of the Greater Accra Region.
The seminar, held in Accra on Tuesday, the eve of the seventh anniversary of the late President’s demise, was on the theme; ‘Giving Hope to building a better Ghana through mindset transformation’.
Sharing the national identity, sanitation and political perspectives, Mr Anyidoho said the country was caught in a web of identity crisis without any idea of what to value and what to ignore.
He said instead of politicians working together to find solutions to problems, some of them spend time discrediting each other in the media and only solicit aid to solve problems instead of harnessing the country’s resources.
Mr Anyidoho expressed concern that after more than 60 years of independence, the country was ranked low globally in sanitation due to poor attitude by the citizenry and called for a change.
He said the AMI, as a non-governmental, non-political, research, education and advocacy think tank, would collaborate with state and non-state actors to propel the mindset transformation through public education and other projects.
From the family and health perspective, Rev. Dr Tsegah, said there was the need for Ghanaians to prioritise their health and well-being and prevent insanitary habits so that the country do not lose her rich human resources to preventable diseases.
Rev. Dr Elias Kwaku Asiama said there were many lessons to be learnt from the country’s history, rich culture, arts and entertainment but we have discarded them for that of foreign countries.
He urged Ghanaians to be patriotic and support national growth.
Like the other speakers, Nene Nagai Kassa VIII, known in private life as Mr Mike Gizo, a former Minister of Tourism, paid tribute to the late President Prof. Mills, describing him as an embodiment of peace and good governance and the ideal mindset the country needed and called on Ghanaians to emulate him.
The late President Mills, who assumed the presidency on January 2009, died on July 24,
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
