No revolution will cure Ghana of her woes

“No man is an Angel.” “If men were Angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern Men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

As Ghanaians are neither Angels NOR governed by Angels, we must have a government and a constitution which must be prepared in the most desirable way on a good day and enforced on a day-to-day basis and in good faith.

If any section of the Country is waiting for revolutions of sorts to resolve the unpardonable levels of corruption in the Country today, and/or to ‘fix’ the people of Ghana, then I beg to state that no revolution or violent change will cure Ghana of her woes as Coup makers will jump in just to partake in the perceived ‘National Booty’ with an ‘unfixed’ attitude.

Originally intended to address the excesses of the Government of the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah the National Liberation Council only succeeded in restoring elective politics dominated by the Progress Party which was itself dominated by the politicians who dominated the National Liberation Movement.

We have had umpteen military interventions on the West Coast of Africa since 1957. None seems to have been able to remove any of the social vices which have plagued the country since time immemorial, particularly, since the white man left us to Govern ourselves. All the military juntas have mentioned ‘corruption’ as one of the factors leading to their coup except for the 1979 (AFRC) and 1981 (NDC) uprisings led by the late Flight Lt. Jerry John Rawlings himself, who made it their paramount objective to eradicate corruption, if not to fix the attitude of Ghanaians.

The AFRC revolution, probably the bloodiest and the most trying in the history of country, resulted in the maltreatment, and manhandling of the citizens of the motherland, mostly market women, businessmen and company managers up and down the country.

However, in the end, 19 years later, Rawlings left office after selling an invaluable National Asset to his wife at a considerable undervalue as well as a Political Party Machine (NDC), able to run for and win elections. His party has been responsible for some of the most mind-boggling thefts in our history.

In point of fact, Rawlings governed Ghana under the NDC from January 1993 to January 2001 - this was of the utmost betrayal of Ghanaians given the severe untold hardships, murders, unconscionable treatment of innocent Ghanaians that Rawlings’ Government put the Country through which did not resolve the Country’s problems. With all the curfews, Rawlings’ dictatorships only ended up subjugating the people.


Nevertheless, we will not be able to heal our country until we have ‘fixed’ ourselves as a people. Governments however, have an enormous responsibility to fix the people irrespective of how well they the people try to, but whatever the type of Government that takes over from the current dispensation, it will have a huge human element that will not come from another planet, as they will remain ‘unfixed’ Ghanaians too.

We know that Ghana is not operating at its optimal moral best because the Country and her people are ‘institutionally corrupt and somewhat capricious’ – the Police, the Judiciary, the Political Class etc, are all perceived as corrupt. Very few institutions/ people in Ghana seem to be devoted to a fair and just society.

Our 2 parties must endeavour to generate a leadership that is formidable and able to control the negative proclivities of the people who put Governments under pressure to lose direction and focus away from optimal use of the Country’s best resources, human, natural and logistic.

There are obviously, attitudes which ought to be tackled with considerable haste and alacrity; such traits are many and varied - selfishness, self-indulgence, highly Individualistic propensities, nepotism, lack of commitment to principle and to Country, Opulent display of and by the rich and powerful few in the face of human suffering etc.

These attributes are not peculiar to Ghanaians, but my experience leads me to believe that the extent to which these hostile human attributes prevail in the Country is more significant in Ghana as against many other countries outside of Africa. Obviously, some countries do not appear to have a natural propensity to act similarly. It also seems that these attitudes appear to be satisfactorily controlled elsewhere. As the saying goes, ‘No man is an Angel’.

You cannot change people even within decades of unrelenting evangelism. However, you can stop or close the opportunities for corrupt behaviour/practices and make unwanted practices extremely prohibitive within days if you are in some position of leadership.

There is insufficient deterrence in our society. We are quick to quote and/or rely on legalese when concerns relate to people at the top end of society, caught on cameras committing offences; we will say that they must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt by a court of competent jurisdiction although we know full well that the State as an employer is not that badly restricted and in cases where the Executive powers are clearly restricted as against non-political actors, we sometimes fail to acknowledge these restrictions.

If you believe, as James Madison says, that the only point to law is addressing human misbehaviors then, the Law has no point unless there are enforceable sanctions attached to legal prohibitions. It stands to reason that in countries where Laws are regularly unenforced, they will sail very close to being failed states or simply becoming Lawless.

The case of incorrigible Galamseyers in Ghana recently, with shocking revelations is symptomatic of the drug menace in Southern and Central America, lends itself to the beginnings of Lawlessness. When news broke out that the ruling party’s women organiser has been engaged in Galamsey activities against the express directives of the incumbent President, Ghanaians did not seem shocked due to earlier stories creating the perception that no one, especially party apparatchiks, are sufficiently deterred by Government action on enforcement, prosecution, and even simple decisions on employment disciplinary action.

People look on keenly as Government seem to undertake the most desperate action needed to sanction Galamsey; is it the most effective and/or appropriate enforcement action? The burning of Galamsey equipment will resolve the problem. How can the situation be addressed without addressing the human element relating to ownership of the relevant equipment?

Will this offer long term resolution to Galamsey concerns in Ghana? The country has elaborate legislation/regulations to stop Galamsey, yet these instituted measures have always appeared to have been overlooked while Government look on apparently unconcerned. Recent burning of equipment by Government is very unimpressive

Capital punishment is available on the statute books, but it has only gathered profuse and plenteous dust because neither the Judiciary nor the Legislature has been digging hard enough for solutions to the incorrigible misconduct in certain areas of our national lives.

What is profoundly missing in Ghana today is that it appears we lack the very few people who can solidly stand the test of probity and accountability to act as the fulcrum around which all effective enforcement can proceed.

There is a multiplicity of factors but, ‘Party Politics’ and how it is funded, comes vigorously rushing to the forefront of one’s mind. Immediately you bribe voters to win elections, the fire in you to burn any scintilla of immorality in the Governed is doused completely.

The people also immediately realize that not only are you not serious about a just, truthful and fair society but equally lack the moral standing to probe anyone. Alternatively, to paraphrase Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, he states, ‘how can you take money from someone and put him in a position from which he can recover his money and then when he attempts to proceed to recover his money, you shout Ole’ (THIEF!), they will deal with you!’

That is undoubtedly a preposterous situation that calls for an urgent attention. Political Parties must start addressing their internal affairs in the manner required of them under the constitution and pursuant to Article 55(5). The lack of action on that front is the principal cause of the general malaise in the Country.

If my MP bribed me to vote for him to be selected and when selected, he lied to the people and paid and promised all manner of things, to win our votes, he will steal in Government. He cannot punish me if I steal.

On 12th November 2020, the late Former President Rawlings died of COVID – 19 complications after a short admission to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra whilst he was being treated for a heart related complaint. Because of the way this man was able to escape all manner of tricky traps and coup d’états, the late Rawlings was almost invincible and perhaps immortal in the blind eyes of his admirers and haters, alike.

Nevertheless, he died just after he had buried his own mother who died at an advanced age of 101 years. A man will die, however long he lives. No one is more powerful than nature. The only thing that outlives you is a good or bad Legacy.

The point with Rawlings is, together with the time that he ruled as a military Dictator, he governed Ghana for about 19 years, the longest Head of State in history.

His famous slogan was to demand Probity, Accountability and Social Justice. His stated mission in 1979 and in 1981 was clearly to fight against corruption. What went wrong that corruption seemed to have hit the roof even whilst he was in office.

It is believed that this was because his motives for his rather bloody revolution were unwholesome as it was born out of envy and greed, even as his regime knowingly killed the likes of General Afrifa and many others for near trumped up Charges, products of an unfixed attitude.

Born on 22nd June 1947, the late former President initially headed what was referred to as a Revolution on 4th June 1979 overthrowing a military Government which had itself succeeded a previous military Government – the NRC- via a palace coup.

The revolution initially proved popular but quite unsettling for our developing Nation. The late Rawlings has left a legacy on the Nation especially, as he founded a political party – National Democratic Congress and indeed oversaw the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Country’s fourth Republican constitution and promulgated it in 1992. Incidentally, many influential persons in the Country at the time boycotted the draft processes.

Many have now regretted for not playing a serious part of the process as the Constitution has governed Ghana for the longest period of almost 29 years and implicitly leaving Rawlings’ fingerprints copiously on every aspect of Government in Ghana.

Reading introductions to Jack Gladstone’s books, I was drawn to his view that “revolutions are complex processes that emerge from the social order, becoming frayed in many areas at once.”

Jack Gladstone states that there are five elements that create an unstable social equilibrium: economic or fiscal strain, alienation and opposition among the elites, widespread popular anger at injustice, a persuasively shared narrative of resistance, and favourable international relations.

Revolutions have both structural and transient causes. Structural causes are long-term and large-scale trends that undermine existing social institutions and relationships while transient causes are contingent events, or actions by individuals or groups, that reveal the impact of longer-term trends and often galvanize revolutionary oppositions to take further action.

Today’s activists in the mould of Kwesi Pratt, KSM, Kofi Wayo, Captain Smart and Mr Akwasi Afiriyie Afrifa appear to speak the language of revolution against the sometimes, unseemly actions of the Governments in Power.

But, could they themselves escape the lure of corruption if they have the opportunity to Govern? Certainly not under the current constitution and possibly under another constitution.

Mali is in the throes of a Coup d’état now which Ghana is heading negotiations to help the people of Mali out of it. Africans are thus not beyond Coup d’états until we have properly fixed our behaviours.

It is thus not beyond Ghana that such fate can befall us given the continued opulent misbehaviour of our politicians. It is obviously good fodder for the hungry Soldier and loud youth leader who has not had time to fix himself.

On the advice of the ECOWAS, the military junta of Mali propose to hand over the Government to a democratically elected Government and most power players are not disillusioned about what could happen even in Mali, whose military leaders obviously want to appear cooperative.

Let us watch that they do not keep renegotiating their return to the barracks by keeping up their willingness to talk. Their continued stay destabilizes the West Coast of Africa.

The only revolution that can cure Ghana is one that is target oriented within the current democratic dispensation:

1. Amend all the clauses which effectively vest Constitutional Power to appoint heads of all our institutions in the hands of just 1 person and to remove any semblance of authority to remove such heads from that same person.

2. Provide some real opportunity for a Political Party to have a measure of leverage or control over her President when in Power.

3. Introduce express constitutionally backed sanctions against Vote-Buying in the Primaries of Political Parties and during National Elections.

4. An effective and competent body to develop regulations to check and monitor internal Vote-Buying within Political parties; yes, it is serious enough; the current Government may want to lead by example.

5. Removal of Presidential Immunity clauses.

6. Decentralize power to Local Government when the Ghanaian has been ‘fixed’.

7. Establish strong civic education that will create awareness and inculcate patriotism in the people.