We Can't Fight Corruption with "Equalization"

Afe Yi Dze M'Abre! Haba!

As we Ghanaians nurse wounds created by a high cost of living, unreliable water and electricity, poor sanitation, low quality of education and a currency that is still losing strength, we must return again and again to the omniscient problem of corruption.

Every time someone takes the NDC Administration to task for not fighting corruption practically, vigorously and seriously, they fight back, not to prove that they are dealing with it, but they try to cover the matter up by pointing to others as also being corrupt. Some of their leading members and communication team members delight in taking to the airwaves in what has become known in Ghanaian politics as "equalization". Essentially, that we are all the same. Not true. The point of this is, the NDC was not forced to take power to administer the affairs of this country. So no matter what happened or who did what before they got there, it is their responsibility to solve the problems we face as a nation, no curve, no bend. Who should we run to for protection against corruption if not the NDC and President Mahama?

When the Anti-Corruption Crusade was launched by the Progressive People's Party (PPP) and other partners, some people rose up with their usual propaganda - "corruption is everywhere", "even Kufuor said corruption is as old as Adam", "every administration has engaged in corruption" and so on and so forth. Is this something to be proud of? That the Mahama Adminstration is not more corrupt than the previous ones? I know that the PPP's crusade is not about this game of who is more corrupt. The fact is that corruption is the rot killing this nation and the PPP has successfully raised the consciousness of our people to understand that if we do not deal with this rot systematically and successfully, the majority of Ghanaians will continue to live in filth and poverty. Worse, we may suffer such social disaster to affect all of us negatively no matter which party, religion or ethnic group we belong to.

The PPP has explained this over and over and yet some pretend not to hear or have decided that the crusade is against them so they must engage in "equalization" by spreading falsehood. Government Spokesperson and MP Murtala Mohammed is one of them. Many of the NDC's young communications/propaganda people have been schooled apparently to toe this line. So we do not make progress. Every discussion on radio or television is turned by them into a battleground and disrupted. They see any talk about corruption as an attempt to make the government unpopular and as a result lose the next election. Is this what itis all about? Win another election or solve our problems? My question is, where does President Mahama sit on this? The nation will not win the war against corruption through propaganda, "equalization" and mere fingerpointing.

In 2012, I decided to take a personal stand against corruption. This I did in the most public way possible and one that is unprecedented in the history of our country. I made my income tax returns from the 1980s to 2011 public at a press conference that was broadcast live on radio and television nationally. On that same occasion, I made public, the asset declarations made to the Auditor-General's Office as a minister of state, member of parliament and presidential candidate. I made all my cancelled and current passports from 1970 to date public. I made the results of a comprehensive medical examination public. I wanted Ghanaians to know that my aspiration is to be an incorruptible leader with transparency. It was not about being better than everyone else but to set an example of practical transparency. The followers of those political leaders who refused to make their tax returns and asset declarations public cannot turn around and accuse me of anything. To me, accusations and counter accusation about who is corrupt and who is not do not help. We need to take practical personal steps each and everyone of us to make this anti-corruption crusade work.

So my point is, I have made my personal commitment against corruption. I am asking that each and everyone also makes their own commitment in their own way. We can all lead from wherever we find ourselves. If the taxi driver, brick layer, carpenter, teacher, civil servant, banker, lawyer, architect, pastor, etc. all work to stamp out corruption where they work and live, we will make tremendous progress as a people, together.

Imagine that!

Papa Kwesi Nduom April 6, 2016