The word diaspora means people settled far from their ancestral homelands. There are many Ghanaian communities in many countries. The question I want to ask is: how well has the government of Ghana harnessed their enormous knowledge and talents for the development of Ghana. We must not forget that many of these people are no longer Ghanaians by nationality. You may meet some with Ghanaian like names. If you should ask them “Are you from Ghana?” they will tell you “No but my parents were born in Ghana”. Luckily many of them have organized themselves into groups that hold regular meetings.
I must add that ethnic associations of Ghanaians living abroad do exist for almost all the over forty ethnic groups in Ghana.
We must harness our diasporan resources. I am not talking about espionage here. By harnessing diasporan resources I mean networking with them to push common and ubiquitous information, resources and feedback through so problems can be solved. A number of them are lecturers in universities in their respective homelands. Has the government ever asked them for their input?
One of the most prominent persons of African descent to have ever held any office outside Africa and the Carribean is Barack Obama, immediate past president of the United States of America. He is of Scott-Irish, African (Kenyan to be specific) descent.
Talking about prominent Ghanaians who have worked outside some names do come to mind. Paul Boateng who was former British Chief Secretary to the treasury. Another one is Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General. It is true that Kofi Annan’s children reside in Nigeria but has Ghana benefited in any way from his experience. The late son of Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah resided in Britain. He was a prominent lawyer who also played the lead role in a number of movies. Did we benefit from his immense knowledge? Let me limit myself to just this three.
Since independence Ghana has sent many people to study in many countries. A number of them are still residing and lecturing in those countries. Are we really prepared to harness their knowledge?
We cannot talk about harnessing knowledge of Ghanaians in the diaspora when we haven’t made any attempt to identify and harness talent in our local universities. Like everything some preparation is needed. We must make the necessary preparations before approaching them.
Let us harness our resources wherever they may be!
Credit: The Mask
The Ghanaian Mask 