FILTHY POLITICS AND INSANE POLITICIANS

When the American DNA Scientist James Watson said black folks were not as intelligent as white people, blacks all over the world felt offended and wanted him dead. I sometimes find it very difficult to disagree with him when I look at how after so many years of independence in Ghana, we’re still struggling to address very basic problems. I know many people will disagree with me but that is what it is. Just utter a word and you will be classified as either a National Democratic Party (NDC) or a New Patriotic Party (NPP) fanatic.

Albeit Ghana is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the little revenue that is generated through poor tax payers and foreign donors end up in the pockets of very few people mostly politicians. The country is plagued with enormous problems yet we waste all our time and energies arguing about unnecessary partisan issues. Many children still have their school lessons under trees, portable drinking water is a luxury for many people, most parts of the country is still without electricity, famers have to watch their harvests rot just because their villages are inaccessible by road, there aren’t enough beds in the hospitals for children and even women in labour, many still cannot afford three square meals a day, lots of households depend on remittances from relatives abroad for survival, brain drain is still a major problem, etc.

All over the world, Ghanaian intellectuals who would have loved to work in their beloved country can be seen working in top organisations and institutions. Despite the fact that each year we produce many doctors, nurses, teachers, etc; majority of them have left for Europe and other developed countries where they would be able to earn some decent living. This has created a shortage of health workers all over the country which has also resulted in many preventable deaths. Many schools all over the country today do not have enough teaching staff just because our trained teachers have left for countries such as China, Botswana, etc. where they are in high demand and well paid.

In attempt to flee the country to seek greener pastures abroad, many of our intelligent young men and women have lost their lives in the deserts and high seas. Majority of those who eventually make it to Europe and other developed countries end up doing very menial jobs such as cleaning, prostitution, warehouse and construction labourers, etc. even though these people are quite often educated with bachelors or postgraduate (Masters) degrees and even in some cases doctorate degrees. Out of desperation, a large chunk of them have joined foreign armies in order to secure their residence permits. Even though we do not hear it in the news, quite a significant number of them have lost their lives whiles serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

The challenges of the 21st century without a doubt require an all hands on deck approach in the governance of the country which therefore makes it very important that after elections, the best brains in the country that are willing to contribute are involved in the developmental process irrespective of their political affiliations. But unfortunately just like in many African countries, it’s a winner takes all system that is practiced in Ghana. One would have to demonstrate allegiance to a political party (often the ruling party) irrespective of one’s academic qualification or experience before one can be appointed to key positions which even require expert/specialised knowledge. This has resulted in a situation where highly unqualified people occupy many top (governmental) positions in the country. Nepotism, bribery and corruption have become the order of the day.

The so-called honourable people who are selected to lead the country rather end up stealing the poor tax payers’ money with impunity. What hurts the most is the fact that these looters very often are very rich and could have even afforded to work for the government for free. Despite the challenges we face as a country which is already more than 100 years behind the developed world, these looters even have the audacity to demand mind-boggling ex-gratia payments from the state after their tenures. Any attempt to prosecute these thieves is rather seen as witch-hunting by some ignorant people. So do we allow all these looters to walk away free of charge all in the name of maintaining the peace in the country? What precedence are we setting for the next generation?

After many years of hoping that the ‘white man’ would come and solve our problems for us, commonsense must tell us it’s about time we took charge of our destiny as a country. We therefore have to put all our petty political differences aside and help develop our nation especially for the future generation. Any individual alive who has stolen from the state irrespective of political affiliation must be brought to justice without fear or favour.

God Bless Ghana.