Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Minister, has urged Ghanaians to rekindle the spirit of volunteerism to achieve the “Ghana Beyond Aid” dream.
“Volunteerism and working with others to address the challenges of our communities is essential to our development as a people,” he noted.
Mr Osafo-Maafo was addressing the 6th District Conference of Rotary International District 9102, made up of Rotarians from Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger and Kenya, in Accra.
The Conference would assess and share experiences on how to improve upon their humanitarian services in their various communities.
He explained that Ghana Beyond Aid did not mean Ghana was not in need and would not need help but to get its resources managed properly.
“As a country, we are looking forward to become a prosperous and self-reliant nation by better managing our resources instead of having a mentality to depend on aid and benevolence of others,” he said.
It also meant that Ghanaians should accelerate own development, desist from importation as well as add value to the raw materials available.
The Senior Minister said Ghana had no business being where it was and should be providing aid to other developing countries, and that, the judicious use of the resources available was essential.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said, if Ghana had 50 percent of the citizenry with Rotarian hearts and minds, the country would change for the better.
Rotary, he said, existed to mobilise resources for the purpose of empowering the poor and addressing national concerns, saying that, lives had been transformed by the benevolence of its members.
He cited that Rotary had improved cleanliness in the city of Accra by proving litter bins to complement government’s effort to rid the city of filth, which had become a challenge.
The Senior Minister commended the club for its services such as peace and conflict prevention and resolution, disease prevention and treatment, improving water and sanitation, providing maternal and child health, basic education and literacy as well as economic and community development which he said were all aligned with government’s programmes.
He, therefore, encouraged Ghanaians to emulate their example to achieve the Ghana Beyond Aid dream as Ghana would not continue to depend on foreign support.
Mr Osafo-Maafo was happy that Ghana had not recorded a Polio case for the past ten years and expressed the hope that the gains would be sustained and Africa would be declared Polio free.
He called on the club to expedite action on getting the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre confirmed as the Rotary Peace Centre, which if finally done, would be the seventh of such peace centres in the world and the first in Africa.
Source: GNA
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Hmmmm. Are you talking about volunteerism? Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, I was shocked you're talking about volunteerism, patriotism, and urging others to be patriotic and volunteer for the greater good of their neighbors and country. I want to remind you. You're not a patriot but a traitor. You sold Ghana for a morsel of bread. Aisha Huang the galamsey queen was a /c/ri/minal but you and your government let her go free. You sent Ghanaians who are earning their livelihood on their own land into prison and let go a foreign c/rim/in/al. And you're bragging about it. Now you want to lecture on patriotism and volunteerism. S/t/00.p.id f/0/0/l