[DEBATE] : FW: [COSATU Press] COSATU salutes Ghana at 50 years old

[Dominic Tweedie]

COSATU salutes Ghana at 50 years old

The Congress of South African Trade Unions salutes the people of Ghana on
the day they celebrate 50 years of liberation from colonialism. Ghana’s
independence from Britain was a milestone in the African people’s struggle
against slavery, imperialism and racism. It led the way, as one African
country after another threw off the yoke of colonial rule and embarked on
the road of independence and nationhood in the years that followed.

The 50 years have not been easy. The imperialist powers that conceded their
direct, political control of Africa have kept an iron grip on their economic
domination of the continent. They have continued to exploit our natural
resources and cheap labour. They have erected tariffs to protect their own
economies at the expense of the developing world, while trying to force
African countries to embrace the ‘free market’. They have stifled the
development of manufacturing industry, and imposed ‘structural adjustment’
programmes, through the IMF and World Bank, which have had dire consequences
for the people of Africa, most of whom still live in desperate poverty.

All this has inevitably had a destabilising impact on Africa. Many
independent countries, including Ghana itself, have suffered from coups,
dictatorships, civil wars or foreign incursions. Yet, despite massive
problems of poverty, hunger and disease, most are now back on the road to
democracy.

Despite the troubles of those fifty years, there cannot be the slightest
doubt that national independence was the essential first step in the longer
struggle for the complete transformation of the lives of the people of our
continent, which continues today.

COSATU sends a special message to its close ally, the Ghana Trade Union
Congress and all its affiliates. As in all developing countries the trade
unions and the working class have a critical role to play in strengthening
democracy and human rights, and long may they continue to play this role.

Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets
Braamfontein, 2017

P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg, 2000
SOUTH AFRICA

Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24
Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940/ 086 603 9667
Cell: 0828217456
E-Mail: patrick at cosatu.org.za