Controversy Unlimited: A Pitiful Ghanaian Mentality…

Calus Von Brazi

Two interesting statements from people within and outside the territorial confines of Ghana have induced me to come to a painful conclusion, couched in the caption of this article. The first came from none other than the diminutive but clearly brilliant Kwadwo Otchere Mpiani, immediate past Chief of Staff to the immediate past President who stated in response to a question inter alia that “…a society which looks at everybody with suspicion and wants to pull everybody down cannot move the nation forward”. I was more than thrilled that someone who had reached such heights had been able to pinpoint something that many a Ghanaian has known, but for reasons of political correctness and a determination to benefit from self-destruction wrought by our very attitudes, have refused to confront head on. The second ‘instigator’ is my very good friend, the ever so beautiful Sandra Esinam Kudolo, who while ensconced in far away Dallas, Texas, has questioned the rationale behind that which makes Ghanaians behave like second-rate citizens in their own land, amply demonstrated by our conscious or unconscious collective resolve to play second fiddle to the ideas and business inclinations of the sojourners in this Land of Our Death. Unknown for any xenophobic tendencies, both Ms Kudolo and Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani have questioned the basis upon which we as Ghanaians, have consistently displayed a tendency to destroy ourselves and embark on sprees of character assassination for no reason other than a penchant for envy, jealousy and sheer hatred.

Attitude Problems

When Mr. Mpiani told Justice Douse that we need “experts in psychology and sociology to find out why the Ghanaian acts the way he does”, I realized that he had in one fell swoop, echoed a ‘taboo’, for how many of us do not know that it is one of the clearest indicators of the definition and description of the Ghanaian? Giving insights into his ‘treatise’ on the “Ghanaian Mentality”, Kwadwo Mpiani compared the attitude of the Ghanaian to that of the Nigerian counterpart who when faced with the success of another citizen is wont to match that success or surpass it. Not so with the Ghanaian, whose response is to destroy whatever propelled a contemporary citizen to fame and fortune in order to ‘level’ and ‘leverage’ positions within the body politic. With such attitudes, is it any wonder that we have collectively wallowed in the doldrums despite all the hope and promise this land called Ghana holds? In any case, does this tendency not explain why Ghanaians continue to flourish and occupy very high and sensitive positions of trust outside the geo-political boundaries of their motherland? Quite clearly, the absence of a constant distraction of “looking over one’s shoulder” in the farthest reaches of the globe is what has afforded those Ghanaians who have distinguished themselves to attain the noble heights to which they have ascended, or transcended for that matter, for is it not plausible that the very energy that would have been used to find out which crablike crab is aiming to pull one down, is rather and wisely channeled into productive ventures and with that, a contribution to specific societies in particular and humanity in general is made? This is why a Spio Garbrah would distinguish himself at either the World Bank, African Development Bank or the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization; it explains why a Boakye Agyarko would rise to the Vice Presidency of the Bank of New York; it underpins why Mohammed Ibn Chambas would become President of ECOWAS and facilitate the elevation of a Kofi Annan to the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations. Had these people being aiming for the aforementioned positions within the confines of Ghana, your guess would be as good as mine. At least, the presidential ambitions of Spio Garbrah and Boakye Agyarko and what happened to them are good indicators of the proverbial Ghanaian mindset. In the unfortunate case of Spio, his is a continuing continuation of a hate-hate relationship with none other than members of his own political family. In the name of political expediency, an obviously talented son of this land is being treated with contempt and disdain by people of questionable standing largely because he is unprepared to pander to their foul and degenerate self-seeking whims and caprices.

I once had the opportunity to tell a very learned professor my piece of mind when he was supervising my dissertation. Said he, “Why is it that despite all your very brilliant academicians, very little publications come from your continent?” The man had asked an interesting question, which hurt my Ghanaian ego and African pride very badly, but then was he not right? In answer to his question, I stated that “Whereas in this country, you academicians have to battle with which source of funding to access, in my continent, our academics have to battle with which government not to infuriate and how to ensure that their wives don’t call them names for lacking the capacity to effectively maintain the home”. In that brief encounter, I saw the disparities in mindsets as far as the organizing principles of academic living were concerned. Now, if we transpose that scenario into the realms of socio-political engagement, things become even murkier, for we have tragically institutionalized hatred of political opponents to the extent that one must necessarily be guarded in speech, in interaction with others, in all sorts of social engagements and even in the privacy of our homes and among our closest associates. With such attitudes, how do we engender growth and development? How do we sow the seeds of progress when our creative abilities are subject to the whims and caprices of those who stride the corridors of political power at one point or the other?

Classic Envy

Take what in my humble opinion, are the very foolish comments of a certain Victor Gbeho and another person who I wouldn’t even dignify by mentioning his warped name within these pages, about the perceived inability of former President Kufuor to clinch the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. This man, purported to be an accomplished diplomat, displayed nothing but sheer envy if not crass indiscretion by throwing all the years of his arduous diplomatic training to the garbage can, ostensibly because he finds himself in a position of trust, conveniently forgetting that until the moment he vocalized his weird thoughts, he remained a veritable role model to the up and coming youth. Unfortunately, as a result of his unguarded and ill-conceived statements, for that is what they were, he unwittingly showed a level of envy that anybody in his age group should have nothing to do with. Gbeho is the age mate of my father’s siblings. Now if he can talk like that and join the morass of those who cannot hide their envy and hatred of Kufuor by pulling the man down so openly, what else can I write of him and think of his age group? True it is that he preceded me by many years at Achimota but I do not even think the “bad new days” that we inherited at the same Achimota prepared us for such shockers from these dinosaurs of the “good old days”. If he did it to please his political masters, it only goes to buttress the opinion of Ms Kudolo and Mr. Mpiani, that there is something in the Ghanaian mindset, something that seems to hate success and achievement. If he did it because he felt so inclined, one would ask what sort of advice he feeds our current President in his capacity as Advisor on Foreign Affairs. As ex-national security guru Stanislav Kofi Adzitornu would say “With advisors like these, who needs an assassin?” Whether Gbeho and his lackeys like it or not, John Agyekum Kufuor was President of Ghana a solid and uninterrupted eight years, a feat and achievement they would never (repeat, NEVER) attain, even if hell freezes over and starts all over again. It is as simple as that.

Ms Kudolo further avers that, “Our nation behaves like the proverbial snail, we do nothing until someone else makes it and then we try to hitch ourselves to their band wagon to get some of the glory that we had nothing to do with in the first place. How else can we explain how the Lebanese, the Nigerians, the British, the Italians, hell, every other nationality in Ghana seems to own all the BIG and prosperous businesses in our own country and we wander around like we're the visitors, IN OUR OWN LAND. Does that make sense? Because it doesn't to me”. Need I add anything? What the young lady has stated is in effect an affirmation that we as a people, are more likely to see to it that some foreigners succeed rather than our own kith and kin. For reasons that Mpiani has asked psychologists and sociologists or better still, anthropologists to decipher, nothing in our present attitude suggests for a minute that we have an inclination to celebrate success; we rather ridicule success, especially when it has anything to do with people from an opposing political inclination. How do we build a country with such attitudes and on such a self-defeating structure? Again, Ms Kudolo states that “I have no problem with foreigners in my land, and I sure as heck do not mind them prospering, nor do I hate them. I just wish we as a people could see all the creative ways to better ourselves and our environs like others seem to. Where we see problems, others see possibilities. And the Ghanaian mindset leaves a lot to be desired sometimes”.

If the above is not as apt as can be, I wonder what would pass for aptness. This is the point at which I deduce parallels with Kwadwo Mpiani’s position for in all truth, I think that it is at the point of our collective inclination to undermine each other that the smart foreigners stake their claim in the fields of investment and with that, seize control of the commanding heights of the economy and business in general. In any case, who does not know that many Ghanaian businessmen would rather hide behind “foreign investors” to participate in the business environment of Ghana? Why should a bona fide Ghanaian go that route in order to access opportunities in his own country if not for fear of retribution and harassment for reasons firmly hinged on suspicion and political differences? Why would a huge transport and shipping mogul for example register all his vessels in neighbouring Togo when his fortune, life and wife are all located in Ghana together with his operational headquarters?

Kwadwo Otchere Mpiani who many people may hate with a passion as I once wrote within these pages, has thrown a challenge to the entire Ghanaian establishment. Sandra Esinam Kudolo has questioned the Ghanaian mindset and what it bodes for creativity that is waiting to be unleashed from within the constrained torsos of the individual Ghanaian. Collectively, they have asked for a reassessment and re-evaluation of that which makes us undermine ourselves with such unbridled and unrestrained fervour. It is my humble opinion that even before somebody gets daring enough to accede to their request, for that is what it remains until the wheels of research are cranked to life, the time has come for us to cut off, nay insulate and inoculate the next generation from and against this worrisome canker. That way, in the absence of any follow up to Mpiani’s call, we can be sure that the next generation shall sharply depart from the very thing that has made us a never-rising-giant and rather catapult us into the realm of achievers without limitations. It really can be done. The question is, are we prepared to let go of our collective pull-him-down tendencies? Jehovah-Hashopet counsel our thought processes and steer us away from envy, spitefulness and hatred of fellow citizens.