We Must Not Lower Our Moral Standards

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Garden City, New York
April 21, 2015
E-mail: [email protected]

It is understandable for some Ghanaians to itch for revenge, in the wake of disturbing reports of the brutal murder of some Ghanaians resident in the various parts of South Africa who have been accused of taking up jobs that ought to be going to natives of that mineral-rich country. We must quickly point out that the killings, so far, have been orchestrated by Black South Africans against resident Black non-South Africans or recent immigrants. This, in American parlance, means that it is open-season or an all-out war by native Black South Africans, on the one hand, against the rest of Black Africa, on the other.

What makes the situation even more dangerous is the fact that some traditional rulers and politicians are reported to be fanning the raging flames of xenophobia against these immigrant fellow Africans. Many of us avid stdents of South African political history are naturally upset, because we have allowed ourselves to be fooled by the practically vacuous ideology of Pan-Africanism. It is vacuous because at the end of the day, it is responsible leadership of the sort that is conducive to socioeconomic and cultural development that brings out the best behavior in all humans. And where such responsible leadership has been meticulously induced and midwifed, the level of civility and refined moral conduct has been worth writing home about.

Obviously, the sort of political leadership purveyed by the Zuma-led government of the African National Congress (ANC) leaves much to be desired. And it is for this reason why the most deprived and destitute of South African citizenry have rather illogically decided to make convenient scapegoats of their "northern" Black African nationals, whose equally corrupt and irresponsible governments back home have forced them to seek the proverbial greener pastures abroad. And so what we clearly see here is the imperative need for the launching of the second phase of our collective and several economic development struggle. This is precisely what Dr. J. B. Danquah meant on the eve of Ghana's reassertion of her sovereignty, when he advocated for a "Ghanacentric" approach to African development, one that was healthily apt to serve as a source of inspiration and a model for the other emergent nations on the continent to follow.

Today, looking at "miracle economies" like Singapore and a significant number of the South Asian nations, the eloquent vindication of the "Danquahist" development paradigm cannot be rationally impeached. We shall take up the trend of this argument in the offing. For now, however, our focus is on the alleged threat by four unidentified persons, presumed to be of Ghanaian citizenship, to torch or burn down buildings housing the South African High Commission to Ghana (See "Four Threaten To Burn Down South African High Commission" Ghanaweb.com 4/20/15). Now, we need to quickly point out that we have no way of ascertaining the Ghanaian identity of the alleged four persons who reportedly threatened to set the South African High Commission in Accra alight. For Ms. Lulama Xingwana, the South African High Commissioner to Ghana, who reported the threats to both the Ghanaian media and the police, did not even identify the gender affiliation or ascription of the alleged would-be-arsonists.

Of course, deliberately setting any building alight is a crime that is punishable in Ghana by vigorous prosecution and the imposition of a stiff prison sentence. And so we can suppose that the alleged would-be arsonists intend to commit what Americans call "A Perfect Crime." In other words, these would-be arsonists intend to execute their dastardly deed with such inimitable finesse as to be able to forever elude the proverbially long and deliberate arm of the law and, in effect, justice. It also bears proudly pointing out the fact as bona fide Ghanaian citizens, we rank among the most civilized polities on the African continent. And by "civilized," of course, I am referring to the quality and richness of our culture. In spite of the bloody record of the Rawlings-minted and the Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), for the most part, Ghanaians are fair-minded and protective of one another.

We are no "Toyi-Toyi" thugs of the sort presently raining hell and mayhem on many a Black non-South African resident and/or immigrant in places like Durban and Heibron. And we intend not to allow ourselves to be dehumanized to the level of resorting to the sort of behavioral bestiality that we are decrying, and which threatens to make us a global laughing stock.

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