The G20 Summit, any lessons for Ghana?

Many Ghanaians and perhaps Africans may probably not have followed the just ended G20 Summit like they followed the recent American-Obama elections.
To many they simply can’t be bothered or they have more serious things like how to pay their children’s school fees, how to put food on the table daily and for some women how to get the latest cloth for a naming or wedding ceremony to think about.

Likewise many Ghanaians will not usually bother so much about governance in their own country as compared to how they express concern about a football match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

It is amazing how people discuss the world cup qualifying matches between Ghana and other countries as compared to how people discuss the dynamics of our countries economy, the Millennium Development Goals and its achievements or some government policies, not to think of getting people to make inputs.

One would wonder what the writer is driving at looking at the topic for the article, nevertheless , the lessons from the 2nd April G20 summit are not just what the heads of the 20 most powerful countries came together to decide but the publicity, involvement and concern that ordinary people in these countries showed.
Ahead of the G20 summit, it was in the news that people demonstrated in London and some parts of Europe calling for specific needs especially those related to job creation and the ‘Global Financial Crisis’ (the most popular term now).

One cannot judge the impact that these demonstrators made but it is certain that the G20 Summit took decisions that aimed at restoring confidence, growth, and jobs; repairing the financial system to restore lending; strengthening the financial regulation to rebuild trust; funding and reforming international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones; promoting global trade and investment and reject protectionism, to underpin prosperity; and building an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery.
To ensure commitment, 1.1 trillion dollars would be used for the poorest countries, in support of programmes with the objective of restoring credit, growth and jobs in the world economy.

A communiqué issued at the end of the summit said: “We will minimize any negative impact on trade and investment of our domestic policy actions including fiscal policy and action in support of the financial sector.

“We will not retreat into financial protectionism, particularly measures that constrain worldwide capital flows, especially to developing countries; “
The leaders also called on the United Nations agencies, working with other global institutions, to establish an effective mechanism to monitor the impact of the crisis on the poorest and most vulnerable.

However, hardly does one hear people talking about the global financial crisis or its impact on the streets, at public places, in buses etc, at the same time one easily hears how Nana Akufo-Addo’s car has been seized, how Kufuor’s office is a big deal, how President Mills talked hard and many issues which the writer believes is petty and should be treated petty.
Ghana has once been described as a hub for international conference and should one attempt to count just a few of the ‘big’ conference Ghana had hosted the AU summit, the UNCTAD readily comes to mind.

The big question is does the media really understands what these conferences means or stand for, the theme and subject matter such that they use these to set the agenda?
Events such as the AU summit could get publicity but not as wide as the way President’s Mill’s ‘hard talk’ with the Ghana Journalist Association got publicity, meanwhile Ghana, even though independent operates in a global context and policies and actions taken by our international partners affects people especially those at the lowest level of the economic and social ladder.
“When America sneezes the whole world gets catarrh,” is a statement that generated a lot of argument at one meeting, but yes, the world is call a global village and it is possible that when one country gets infected with catarrh, others could also get infected.

Do people understand the economy, governance, fuel prices, MDGs, trade issues and other policies that government or the international community recommend, do people know how these policies affects their lives?
Prices are high, fuel prices have gone up, there is food crisis; these are a few of the statements the media churn out but do people know the dynamics of these issues, such that when there are international conferences or even national ones people will come together to demonstrate demanding specific policies and programmes that they think are helpful

It is time that the media changes their focus on personality and petty issue politics to development politics such that when subjects as the MDGs, Financial crisis, good governance, rule of law and economy are mentioned people can show interest and make inputs.
It was interesting when at a conference in Dar-es-salaam ,last year, a Tanzanian journalist asked whether their president was the AU president. The journalist did not know.
Governance should not be about some people supporting political party A or B for the sake of it but it should be people identifying with Party A or B’s policies and programmes such that they can make a choice and be actively part of it.

Perhaps the lesson to learn from the G20 summit is simple: Let’s all get involved in governance.

Credit: Hannah Asomaning [thedevelopmentagenda.com]