What next, Ghana ?

One apparent factor in the erosion of public thrust is "corruption".This is a violation of public interest for personal gain. Corruption is not the exclusive monopoly of one party in Ghana as we have seen and known for many years. It is an accepted fact that it is endemic in the politics of Ghana and in the life of ghanaians as a whole.

There has been accusing fingers of corruption from the presidents' to the ordinary messenger in a company and which really is very depressing to say the least. If the people are suffering the government has to offer alternatives on consistent basis. Anything short of this then the government has to suffer. Ghana is at a crossroads and we need a president who can expose and end the reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed that is spreading like wildfire. Great president's rise to the occassion, poor president's fall to the occassion as president Kuffour did after not making good on his campaign promise of "zero tolerance".

Instead of the government being the solution to the problems of ghanaians, the government is rather the problem. As the two main parties try to win more support, their problems run deeper than when they lost elections because of how they wantomly used the country's money on useless things, and sold some companies to their crony's at peanuts which are now coming to light. Accountability has really been in short supply.

At the upper reaches of the shameless, we have the politicians. Peel back the label of all the politicians and they want you to see three words in big bold letters, "ME, MYSELF and I". The scent of corruption is now spreading through the corridors of the Justice and Police departments. Places which should have been setting and interpreting the laws of the country. As a result of this mistrust, the citizens are disillusioned by the pervasive insecurity that plagues their daily lives.

The two parties which have come to power in the past years made loud promises about crackdowns and cleanups and the only thing they seemed to do was and still offering protections as we see today in the Maybe and Johnson, Vodafone and the Ghana@50. One most annoying thing was that these deals were done under the guise of patriotism and Christianity. The two previous governments' policies not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the government. If corruption reaches its nadir amongst Politicians Judges, Police, Ceps then that country has really turned a corner. It is only when we extirpate the last trace of political corruption from society then the development of other forms will be greatly expedited.

Holy horns of piety have always been sounded by the governments after taking control but in reality Ghana has become too well known as a nation of liars and cheaters. The best defence against corruption in parliament is the rectitude of its individual members and the vigilance of their leaders. If rumours are flying around that the former president was at the bottom of the Vodafone/Ghana telecom deal which didn't favour the country, then the present government should launch an extensive enquiry into this and let him answer on whatever role he played. Every citizen is equal before the law but if on the other hand the government thinks it is also going to wallow in the same swamp then we have to forget and soldier on. We should not forget that power is always challenged by truth.

Before the Ghana@50, I wrote an article in the Ghanaweb ("Anybody but Wereko Brobbey") explaining why that man was unfit for the job, but because of his affinity to the top echelon, he got the job as the overseer. Wereko Brobbey's qualification for the job was once again his loyalty to the president rather than his fidelity to the constitution and the rule of law. What he did was the most egregious waste of money and resource I've ever seen. An outlandish abuse of government power and money and this is destined to make the "Ghana Hall of Shame". It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. What he and Kwadwo Mpiani did showed lack of accountability and respect for the law. It is only in Ghana that bad behaviour is rewarded and good behaviour punished.

Mr Mpiani should have known well before anything that politics was and is still a game of rise and fall. He and his cohorts shouldn't have been in the kitchen if they knew that they were not going to be able to stand the heat . If he thinks this is a witch hunting then he should know that as far witches are evil, they should be hunted. He shouldn't be afraid of anything since he has all the documents to prove his innocence. They should have done the same thing to NDC when they came to power but because they knew that they were continue from where NDC left off they didn't bother. They really wallowed in the dirty swamp of bribery and they have to account for that. No sentimentality.

As there is no justice, law and order have crumbled which have also given rise to corruption and indiscipline. If ghanaians think the oil in 2012 will bring income to the nations household and that would be the end game to our troubles then that would be wrong. It would rather be the kick-off. As far as politicians have hijacked the progress of the country forcing the ordinary citizen to tiptoe with care in life, we would continue to beg and be corrupt. Better life can only be achieved when we are all commited to turning the wheel of this gigantic ship in a new and better direction. It is also time to stop the few riches Ghana still has being shared as spoils by a small inner circle. As far as we don't vote according to our conscience but rather on tribal lines, the politicians will continue to enjoy a field's day.

It seems the commission for Ghana@50 are playing games with Wereko Brobbey and Kwadwo Mpiani. Mr Mpiani had the intestinal fortitude to compare Luanda to Ghana that what happened in Luanda is going to befall us. That was really irresponsible, reckless and naive talk. How many school buildings could that money which was earmarked for the celebration built?. How many roads could we have constructed and how many railway lines could we have constructed?. Guinea worm is still rampant in Ghana and some people drink in the same stream with cows and goats. Food stuffs are always rotten in the bush just because a bridge broke down over five years ago and has not been built. Childern still study under tress and Fire service don't have the right equipments to control fire but politicians always get away with stealing from the government.

Any politician who voted for the Ghana@50 should bow his/her head in shame because it did more harm than good to ghanaians. It seems that whenever the citizens are enjoying a good programme in their lives the poiticians always change the channel to make things more difficult for them. When these same people who did damage to Ghana saw no immediate consequences for their behaviour, their sins became progressively more severe and now any department under the radar of suspicion in corruption is being burnt down to destroy any evidence pertaining to their evil deeds.

If the country were to be a physical human being, I would have cried for her,for it seems we are on a journey without knowing our destination. I really find myself sometimes wishing that the opposition had a little more spine and would speak more forcefully to the great isues before the country.Time has come for us to rethink how our government works and how we should be active players in that process. It is also time that we get it in our brains that if we want peace, then we should work for justice in the country.

Ghana belongs to all ghanaians, weak and strong and not a few with affinity to the top echelon as I have said earlier. Ghanaian people are tired of paying dearly to be successful. They are tired of being penalized for thinking as individualds. They are tired of keeping politicians in office who have no business being there, who are incompetent and consistently betray the ghanaian values and traditions. They should think about who sent them to parliament and why. Ghanaians will have to aim an urgent needed fire hose into the clogged gutters that are "Corruption and Indiscipline". LONG LIVE GHANA.

Seth Bonsu (Denver-USA)