POEM: Greedy politicians and Ghana@53

We beg as always we do
Why so?
Are we that blind?
When will we learn?
Are we a race that can manage its affairs?

Despite all the lands
The mineral wealth
The human resource base

But still we beg
We worship leaders who beg
And hail them for putting us on the map for this

Eventually, over half of these monies disappear into their pockets
Under fictitious names and that of their friends and family
They buy boats and houses as well as luxury cars
And claim these are from friends
They buy our oil fields for a song
Probably with our own monies

Oh Ghanaian taxpayer!
Can you not see?
That the leaders ye follow are selfish and greedy to the point of avarice
Shame they have none
Respect they will get
For this is what the African is all about
The greediest and most domineering will get our praise
I lie down and cry every night
Wondering when we will hold our own among the nations
Hold our leaders accountable
And deal with them when they commit crimes no matter how insignificant
Just so others will not follow in their steps
A lesson to all who silently scheme behind the scenes
When will we get leaders who will think about us first before satisfying their appalling tastes?
I cringe when these people mount podiums
I silently watch in dismay as their followers follow blindly, singing their praises
No questions asked
No challenge to their lies
No counter to their misleading ways
Oh Africa!
Until we begin to hold our leaders accountable
Until such time as we begin electing leaders with high standards
We will be doomed into begging
Never making ends meet
Never getting past any set targets
We will take two steps forward and four backwards
Never thinking outside the black box
We will continue electing leaders who will grab our wealth and then annoyingly flaunt them in our faces
Who easily forget that these were stolen from the very people whose livelihoods they pledged to improve
Our leaders will buy our bungalows with our money
Get hotels by their house, a shopping mall across from their street and all we’ll do is be silent and praise them
Because we have no principles
Leader after leader rob us of our wealth and we stand by and watch
This trail will continue because we see nothing wrong

Accountability means nothing
And instead of looking to our leaders we look to the world for salvation
What a mentality!
Ghana is 53 years
What have we got to show for the minerals we mined all this while?
The toil, the sacrifices, the hardships, the coups…..
Oh Ghana!
Art thou cursed?

Kwame Mepeasem
[email protected]