YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Cardinal Peter Turkson, a leading Vatican figure, has strongly criticized Ghanaian leaders for shifting their priorities from national development to personal enrichment.

The Ghanaian-born cardinal made these remarks during a wide-ranging interview on Ghana’s Channel One TV, held on the sidelines of the First National Day of Prayer initiated by President John Dramani Mahama.

Turkson explained that resetting the nation’s moral and democratic compass requires reprioritizing development and the welfare of Ghanaians.

“The first government of Ghana [under Nkwane Nkrumah] was concerned more about building a nation, putting Ghana on the map, making the nation Ghana known,” the cardinal said.

“So the big emphasis was making Ghana into something,” he said.

He recalled that at the time, Ghana was on the same level of development, if not, even better than countries like India, China, Indonesia.

It was a government that sought to meet the benchmarks set out in the UN’s Human Development Index, such as “access to food and water; access to healthcare, shelter, a roof over one’s head, and decent work.”

“These are the fundamental indicators of well-being that any government must actively promote,” Turkson said.

The focus on development, however, eventually shifted, and the country’s later political leaders became more concerned with learning how to stay in power and lining their pockets with money-often stolen money.

Evidence of such failure to focus on the development of the nation, the cardinal continued, is that as he travels around the world, people only make reference to “sustaining basic infrastructure of Ghana” when they are talking about those early days of independence.

Nkrumah’s tight grip on power, bitter rivalries with groups like the Asantes, and controversial laws jailing political opponents made him a target of both symbolic and physical violence.

However, internal strife was not the sole catalyst for the efforts to oust Nkrumah. Ghana, as Africa’s first independent nation, had become a stage for Cold War politics. Nkrumah’s initial policy of non-alignment—fostering ties with both the Eastern and Western blocs — was perceived by the United States to have shifted towards alignment with Russia. Consequently, many Ghanaians claim the U.S. was complicit in Nkrumah’s overthrow.

This culminated on February 24, 1966, in a coup that deposed Ghana’s first president. Retrospectively, many view this event as a Waterloo moment, marking a reversal of the country’s substantial development achievements and a halt to its promising trajectory.

Colonel Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was a key military officer in the coup. Cardinal Turkson contends that for Ghana to truly reset its moral and political compass, it is essential to reassess the nature of its national heroes.

He cites the the naming of Kotoka International Airport after a coup leader as a prime example of this problematic celebration.

“It’s ironic that we have a document that discourages coup d’états in the sub-region, but the name on our airport, the first point of entry into Ghana, is named after a coup maker. That doesn’t jell,” the 76-year-old Ghanaian cardinal said.

“For us in Ghana, it’s a conversation; I’m not holding anybody up for criticism. It is an introspection that we need to make. Revisiting the past: did the coups promote democracy or the common well-being? We can evaluate all of those,” Turkson said.

The cardinal said he couldn’t understand how Ghana would disassociate itself from “coup d’état and still idolize a figure who represents” it.

“The governments in the past may have had a reason to do it, but if we are resetting, then it’s good to do a full review of the history,” he advised.

He said a complete review of the country’s history could help uncover “values and things” that undermine the country’s core value systems.

“That’s why this reset cannot be left only to government. It must be a vision, a program of action that all of us in Ghana must adopt,” Turkson noted.

He also spoke broadly about the care for the environment, warning against its abusive use.

“The environment is not merely an object to be treated arbitrarily; our relationship with it is profound. Our bodies are derived from it and sustained by its bounty. Therefore, it should not be abused or exploited. This realization leads people to understand they must live differently than before. Such a shift is often reflected in institutions like churches and schools promoting these values, and this is always inspiring,” the cardinal explained.

He didn’t elaborate further, but illegal gold mining has been a major factor of environmental devastation in Ghana, with streams polluted and farmlands rendered unproductive. On several occasions, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the West African country has urged the government to take stronger action against the scourge.

The Ghanaian-born Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences in Rome also addressed the various forms of violent conflict plaguing Ghana. Such conflicts frequently stem from chieftaincy disagreements, ethnic divisions, and resource competition. The Bawku crisis, a protracted conflict in a town bordering Burkina Faso in Ghana’s Upper East region, exemplifies this with its gun violence and fatalities. In November, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) condemned the resulting displacement, loss of life, and livelihoods, among other detrimental impacts.

Turkson described Ghana’s current situation as being at a crossroads, and urged the nation to “pursue the path of peace.”

“If Jeremiah [in Jeremiah 6:16] tells us that we are at the crossroads and we should find which path leads to peace, then it means right now we may be travelling on a path which does not lead to peace,” the cardinal said.

“To be talking about peace when you are walking on a path which doesn’t lead you to peace is leading people astray,” he said.