What will you die for?

What will you die for?

By Richard Annerquaye Abbey

It was about 1:30pm at Opera Square in the Central Business District. Traders and pedestrians were jostling for space on the pedestrian walkway. As it were, the petty traders would have none of the so-called “right-of-way” talk of pedestrians. It was a lawless, chaotic scene. 

Not that I expected anything different -- because so long as our city authorities do not stamp their authority, traders will always battle with hawkers for space on sidewalks. Previous efforts to “decongest” the streets have always hit a snag, especially when the authorities start to consider the political implications.

Decongestion is even harder in election years as these traders threaten to blackmail the government if they are forced out of their “offices”. The traders have always won, hands down, on such occasions.

Anyway, I don’t intend talking about this messy situation. As I was saying, it was business as usual at the Opera Square until disaster struck. It was quiet a nasty one. I was particularly disturbed to witness such a scene.

It started out as a mere quarrel, but what followed were not mere blows. It was a mini-WBC middleweight bout. Little surprise the venue, Opera Square, is located a skip, a hop and a jump from Bukom, home to many boxing legends of the country.

Two young men among the traders, previously seen in a hearty chat, were now literally demanding each other’s head. The argument centred on how these two breadwinners would share an amount of GH¢100 they had just made on a sale.

After colleagues tried in vain to break up the fight, the two remained resolute in settling their scores the old way. The amount at stake was not that much, but as the scuffle degenerated, it was no longer the money that was at stake but life, too. Yes, you read right. 

Soon, an uncharacteristic hefty blow landed on the face of the guy demanding his share of the profit. 
It was so fatal that it sent him crashing his head on a rock and knocked him unconscious. There was sudden alarm and a spontaneous break-up of the brawl. The man on the floor had to be hurried to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Sadly, he did not survive. Such a youthful soul wasted. It was such a sad scene as the news later broke at Opera Square.

This is not the first and would likely not be the last time someone loses his or her life over such trivialities. Last year a man lost his life fighting a driver’s mate over change. He left behind a very young family whose upkeep fell on their mother, a petty trader.

In the two instances, it was a case of people fighting for what they thought belonged to them. Most of us are fond of this. At times when we just have to let go and lick our wounds, we hold on to fight a little longer because we don’t want to be seen as being “foolish” or giving up easily. No matter how severely the other protagonist in the Opera Square incident may be punished, it would not bring his victim back to life. 

As my old mother in the village puts it, we don’t lose a hair on our head when we are insulted or cheated. Hers was the typical “fama Nyame” or “leave it to God” attitude. Much as I have qualms with her stance at times, I believe it’s a general rule that must apply in the face of severe confrontation.

About four years ago, a friend acquired a brand new laptop after months of saving. Just two weeks after acquiring the laptop, he was pounced on by two hoodlums who demanded he hand over the laptop to them. He would not budge -- not when he had toiled his life to acquire it.

A scuffle ensued and one of the robbers slashed his shoulder with a machete, and his priceless possession fell to the ground. He could not but throw himself to the ground in great pain. At this point, the whereabouts of the laptop mattered little to him.

The robbers grabbed the blood-drenched laptop bag and sped-off. My friend spent four months in the hospital with the affected hand amputated. He wondered whether it was worth fighting for his laptop, which he lost anyway. His inability to let go of the priceless possession marred his life forever.

Every time he looks at his scar, he wishes he had just handed the laptop to them without second thoughts. But the harm has already been done. Once there’s life, there’s always hope. It’s a message we have to live by.

It is always difficult to let go, but in most cases we stand vindicated in the long run. Let’s not endanger our lives over things that will have no value tomorrow. Life is more precious than anything; that’s a fact.
Like I said, once you have life, you have everything.

Happy weekend people.

I’m out.

Death must not end it all…

Death’s sting has always stunned people. The Bible says it is appointed unto man to die, but the death of a relation or a friend is always bound to leave us crushed. Wailing, a pensive mood, and a feeling of one’s life crushing abruptly among others are immediate reactions to the loss of a loved one.

Even some have been driven to commit suicide at the loss of a relation -- which can be very unfortunate. Apart from love, sex and life, death is one of the most popular themes in songs, movies and other arts. This shows that it is at the very heart of everything we do—it is part of life.

Yet the element of surprise in death remains. I once knew a beautiful lady who was also very brainy. She virtually topped every class at school since she was in crèche. She had a wonderful personality and was cut for success. But before she could even finish SHS, death manifested itself. It was not a pleasant piece of news. A budding, healthy tree gone…forever. Her family was devastated and they wondered why it had to be her. Her life had not even begun…but there she lay breathless, cold, a bubbly girl snuffed out never to smile again.

Indeed, death has always had a way of getting at us like none other. The sister of the deceased, who was my friend and schoolmate, found life meaningless soon after -- you know, when it happens like that, at least for the first two or so weeks, we wish it were all just a bad dream.

That this is a person you will never see again in life breaks the soul. For months, my friend went through hell. No amount of tears could revive her sister; she could not come to terms with the fact that her intelligent, innocent sister was no more.

So with Komla Dumor’s death. It seems the news has not even sunk; many people are still in denial. “He’s gone? Just like that?” you ask? Yes, just like that. But don’t be surprised there are those who still hang on to a glimmer of hope that Komla would come out and clear the air and describe his death as an expensive joke.

But you know, in times like this we have two options: to resign ourselves to fate or pick ourselves up from the dust and forge ahead with our lives. Of the two, the latter seems the more difficult to do.

Komla lived a very fulfilling life, and I am sure he would not want us to beat ourselves up for something we did not do. Of course he would cherish the love we have all shown him, but at the same time he would also appreciate that we continued with the remainder of our tasks here assigned on earth.

Taking care of ourselves

While we work so hard, we must pause and share some time with our family and friends, for they are the ones that do cherish us most. Personally, I believe hard work should not be detrimental to one’s health. That is not to say you must not give your utmost, but what you must also know is that the body has limited capacity just like a machine, and overworking it and not taking it through regular maintenance will lead to an eventual shutdown—a system overload.

The Bible says that God created the universe and all that’s in it within six days, and he rested on the seventh day. Even the Almighty rested. This underscores the need for rest; it must not be taken for granted at all.

You can decide to adjust your body to work for 10, 12 or even 14 hours daily. That’s cool, but you should know that rest must also be taken in similar proportion to ensure a well-balanced body.

Prof. Frimpong Boateng, former CEO of the Cardiothoracic Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has bemoaned how a lot of young professionals are working themselves to their graves. You can’t cheat nature. The sad aspect is that mostly, the people we work so hard to impress, our families, are rather left miserable because we died trying to provide for them. Sad as it is, you can be replaced at your work place but your family will never be able to replace you with somebody else.

But this should not to be an excuse for people who are outright lazy. Not at all; lazy people must not seek refuge in this. While giving your 101% best is ideal, you must also know it is because of the need for rest that we have five working days, the weekend off, and an annual leave.

I am saying all this because I believe beyond work, we must also make time and enjoy with the ones we so cherish. It should be as simple as ABCD. No? We all have got to get the balance right.

Our thoughts and prayers should be with the family of Komla, especially his wife Kwansema and those three lovely angels of theirs, Elinam, Elorm and Emefa.

Toying with unemployment …a ticking time bomb

In this 21st century, one would wonder why formal education is still regarded a luxury in our part of the globe. You’re lucky if your parents or any relative or Good Samaritan puts you in a school to begin this sometimes difficult journey.

Going through our educational system is indeed a tough struggle, with quite a good number of students dropping out before senior high school. From here, too, the attrition is quite high as there are only few openings at the tertiary level.

After all this“wahala” one may pass through to complete at least tertiary education, the graduate is confronted with the fiercest of battles yet. Getting a job, much more a decent one, is a thing that literally requires fasting and prayers for many graduates.

Sometimes those in authority are quick to proffer solutions to the aggravating issue of unemployment. The last time, I heard a Deputy Minister admonishing graduates to create their own jobs. Sometimes, I wonder why people were put in authority at all.

It is sad enough that as a country we have zero data on unemployment. In fact, we can’t even trace the number of people who secure jobs right after tertiary education.

Many academicians as well as technocrats continue to fault the educational system. accusing it of not preparing graduates for industry. Well, their criticism may be true, but the question is: what then is the fate of those who have begun the journey or are still in the school pipeline?

You know, there’s no “abort” function in our educational system for us to use in aborting all the half-baked graduates who are about to be birthed by our “deformed” educational system. So the earlier we come to this realisation the better.

Ghana must make a conscious effort at providing at least the right environment for people to create their own jobs, that is, if this is the direction the government wants to go. It is public knowledge that previous attempts by government have failed miserably.

The likes of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency or the erstwhile National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have all suffered the same fate. Nobody can really pinpoint to the transformational effect these policies have had in the country.

What this calls for is a rethink of government’s approach to resolving unemployment. I believe government has no business trying to be the major provider of employment. We should use the GYEEDA brouhaha as a cardinal example of our failure.

The private sector offers a more realistic chance at providing sustainable or stable employment. To start with, the government can give tax breaksor other incentives to organisations that generate employment.

In so doing, government would not put its limited resources into paying wages. Whatever revenue government may relinquish in the form of these tax breaks or incentives it stands to recoup through the payment of income taxes.

We can use those incentives to attract foreign companies to come establish their presence here. We need to reduce our dire unemployment situation. Doing that would mean that crime will not be an option for people who have been frustrated because they lack jobs.

Agriculture is also an area where government can promote employment opportunities. It is a cliché that Ghana has vast arable lands and agriculture, which already employs quite a huge number of Ghanaians, still offers a decent chance of taking a lot of people off the streets.

The lack of investment or a clear-cut policy for the agricultural sector has led to the decline in productivity. Indeed, it is no surprise that many farms are being turned into illegal mining fields. It is really a shame.

It is common knowledge that our farmers are all aging and the youth can prove to be the game-changer if we are to salvage our agriculture output. Pushing the youth into agriculture must go beyond lip-service.

Then again, we don’t need government to own these initiatives. Government must be creative about these solutions to boost agriculture.We obviously need to relook at unemployment.

I’m out.

By Richard Annerquaye Abbey

Killing a fly with a Hammah!

The former Deputy Minister of Communications Victoria Hammah has for a while been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Little wonder the latest news of her pledging to make US$1 million--according to a secretly recorded audio--before quitting politics culminated in her being given the sack.

Since Ms. Hammah has not publicly denied the tape nor its content but rather caused the attempt of her driver, it will be logical to conclude that the voice on the tape is hers. Whoever did the recording really did her in.

Nevertheless once the content of the tape became public, we have no other option than to interrogate it and see whether issues raised merit our consideration. Personally I think we have exaggerated almost the issues Ms. Hammah raised on the leaked tape.

Of course US$1 million is no small money. It could build thousands of boreholes or provide dozens of classroom blocks for many deprived communities. Indeed many were those who raised issues with Ms. Hammah’s appointment as a Deputy Minister.

Frankly, she didn’t have many sympathisers and being embroiled in one scandal or the other did not help much in winning over public sympathy. What did the President see in her to employ her? It indeed sad that she could not justify the faith Mr. Mahama had in her considering her “appointment was solid way back.”
But come to think of it I don’t understand why an “innocent” person could be used to pacify the sins of many a corrupt government official. Yes, she declared her intent of making a certain amount of money in politics.

Unlike her, many people who have masterminded many corrupt deals are still walking free with some still at post as government appointees. What didn’t we hear about GYEEDA, ISOFOTON, Subah, as well as millions of dollars paid as judgement debts?

While I hold the view that corruption in any form must never be countenanced, I still believe government’s swift reaction to hammer Victoria is a clear case of double standards. Despite the several reports of financial malfeasance reported at Public Account Committee, Judgement Debt Committee, among many other committees set up to review the infamous GYEEDA rot, nothing really had come out of it.

Of course the likes of Victoria and co are touchable; you can do away with them. She is just a small fly in the mix—no wonder her target was a paltry US$1 million while the likes of GYEEDA and Subah, SADA alone are reported to have blown over US$1billion.

Aunty Vick is a product of the system—one which promotes and institutionalised corruption. Unless we have a system that allows political parties to be financed with public money, we ain’t doing away with corruption anytime soon.

Party financiers are no philanthropists. The juiciest of contracts are awarded to them as a way of rewarding them for their loyalty. However, public financing of political parties allows the parties to streamline their spending.

It does not create a platform where one party will be attempting to outshine the other. In this case, money does not become a key factor as for instance, expensive advertisement among other things can be dealt with.

As far as the funding of political parties is left to private and “hidden” businessmen, we will always breed a crop of people who are into public service to make returns on their “investment”. There are so many Victoria Hammahs in the system.

The big fishes in the soup are the relatively unknown, wrecking more havoc to us than the Vic Hammahs. Sadly, these are the untouchables and no leader of a party will dare touch a hair on their body. Like Vic said on the leaked tape, she has no roots in the party so her sacking was easier and swift.

These recent events point to our ineptitude in tackling corruption. So why is it that some alleged corrupt practices are left to committees and review committees and others acted on swiftly. Why must we be quick to punish intents but slow to punish the actual action?

The golden rule to stealing, as someone will say, is not to get caught--if you are clever, you will continue to cheat the system. No wonder the “father” of modern judgement debts is a financial engineer by profession—Alfred Agbesi Woyome.

Apart from the two salient points in the leaked tape that relates to her low ambition and the part relating to the justices of the Supreme Court, the rest is idle gossip. Almost everybody is guilty of that one way or the other.

Of course we have not been caught on tape. With the advancement of technology, Vicky Leaks indeed points out that we are all vulnerable. Those who are fond of badmouthing in particular must take a cue from this.

Not only has she lost her job, but her “friends” and potential ones who would be wary of falling victim to her acidic tongue. To some extent I pity her and I know she will be traumatised for a long time to come.

Victoria Hammah, please take a cold shower and come back to show some maturity. Apologise to all those you who were hurt by the incident. And please don’t try justifying some of the things you said. Build bridges and extend the olive branch to particularly Rachel Appoh, yeah?

It’s never easy but the world has not come to an end; move on.

I’m out.

Will Christmas ever be the same again?

It was December 25 and I had just arrived from church in the company of my siblings. It was one of those moments the whole family had been waiting for -- a rare opportunity to have a taste of sumptuous food and an excuse to demand newly sown clothes from my parents.

In those days, Christmas brought the family together. It was not Irish cream or any exotic drink that brought us together, just a bottle of squash with plenty water to serve the entire family. Everyone was content with it, except on a few occasions when the accompanying Piccadilly biscuits had run out.

There can never be a Christmas without firecrackers, popularly known as “knockouts”. Much as the little explosions caused by the crackers were a nuisance at times, we loved it all the same. The eve of Christmas and December 31 were always special times to light these firecrackers.

Of course, this was in the late 80s and 90s. Getting the family together was always an inexpensive venture. Indeed, Christmas provided yet another opportunity to meet the family once more. Nowadays, everyone seems busy minding their own business.

With the passing of time, the mechanical solidarity of society -- the term sociologists use 
to describe community bonding based on shared beliefs and activities -- has waned. The little things that connected the family now mean nothing. The surge in technology -- if not the cause of this rift -- can be said to have further compounded it.

If you leave two or more people in a room, don’t be surprised to come back and find them busy on their phones, either “tweeting”, “facebooking” or “whatsapping”; it tells you of the times we are in. In fact, this practice is pervasive.

The family’s (extended) segregation into smaller (nuclear) units is something sociologists have expressed worry about. Inasmuch as the mobile phones, the social media networks, video games and satellite TVs have become a crucial part of our lives, I believe the opportunity still exists for us to bring the family together again.

It’s never too late for us to go back to the little things that knitted the family together in the past. Being the basis of every society, the family system must be made to work once more. I believe we can improve the mechanical solidarity.

Of course the era of the squash and Piccadilly biscuits may not come back, but we can still recreate those special moments. We can still organise those little parties on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc.

The society is a collection of families; without it the society will cease to exist. If we all contribute to the demise of the family, knowingly or not, we will all suffer from the consequences.

Even as we challenge ourselves to improve our families, let’s not also ignore the disadvantaged in the society. Christmas is a time to show love to those who need it most, not those who can return the love shown.

No gift is too small as long as it gets to needy hands. We should not make these orphans or needy persons feel left out of this years’ holiday celebrations. Not many can hold parties or make huge donations to orphanages or needy homes, but at least there would be someone in our community or in some other place who would appreciate a little kind gesture this Christmas.

For me, my Christmas will be spent with my family. I will try reliving those moments. It is not going to be easy but I will make an attempt, and I will urge you to do same. Let’s build bridges and not burn them. Life’s very short; make friends, enjoy with your family—they are all you have.

Being my last write-up for the year, I want to use it to wish all who have been reading my column the best of the season. I trust the good Lord will keep all of us safe as we approach the New Year. I pray the New Year brings us unprecedented favours and blessings.

I’m out!

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).                        

Kitchen politics: Who wants out?

Verily, verily I say unto you: Ghanaians are living in difficult times. Not to say we have had it easier in the past, but these times are indeed troubled with more problems than solutions – that is, if the few solutions will work at all.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is holding its own against organised labour, led by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), over the recent tariff increases. Kofi Asamoah’s TUC has also not had easy with the Federation of Labour also accusing it of holding the country to ransom over their partisan interest.

Before one could whisper “pink sheets”, a new episode in the Corruption Series was released. Subah InfoSolutions, an IT company, has allegedly been paid about GHȼ144 million for apparently no job done. Interesting times.

Corruption, we are told, has been with us since Adam and doesn’t seem like leaving us soon. According to a Gallup Poll released recently, Ghana is ranked the third most perceived as corrupt in 129 countries with a free press.

The poll itself has received much flak from government appointees who, among other things, have sought to question the poll’s integrity. While it may be true that Gallup’s methodology could be faulted – which I strongly doubt – we still need a retrospection to deal with this canker.

To think that Ghana could beat her bitter rivals Nigeria in that corruption index calls for a paradigm shift in our approach to the issue.

Of course, this “fire service” approach to issues is not helping. The efforts of government to pooh pooh Gallup’s poll could have done a lot if they had been channelled into ensuring due diligence in the freebies given away as judgement debts, contracts signed at GYEEDA, Subah among others.

According to a government official, the poll was long conducted before the outbreak of GYEEDA and the like; hence it could not have reflected modern trends. I don’t think that’s what he intended saying: that corruption has now filed for asylum here? Ewuradzi!!

And while we were at it, as if by coincidence, veteran MP Alban K. Bagbin delivered a jibe to the presidency. Just like you, I was not too surprised; he has towed that line before. But this time round he met a different opposition: those Mr. Rawlings would term as “babies with sharp teeth”.

They say the last time he complained about tough times, he was silenced with an appointment; that was in the late Mills’ era. Now we are in a different era and he is now part of the three “wise” men tasked to oversee the realisation of government priority projects, same level of a cabinet minister or so I think.

And while he joined others to complain about what they thought were difficult times, some are suggesting he heeds to the advice offered by Brigadier Nunoo Mensah that one can always get his/her passport and “gerrout” if the kitchen is too hot.

It is becoming increasingly visible that something is not right somewhere. Some will deny whereas others will be accused of indulging in partisan politics for saying the obvious. Our elders say, when the frog comes from the river and reports the death of the crocodile, we have no cause to doubt the frog.

Of course, those not in support of the Mahama government should wait; 2016 is just a few months away. That’s the advice I will give to those who are getting jittery. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that my President would be thinking same.

Methinks that his remark that “for those who disagree with me and are anxious to see my back, 2016 is not too far away”, goes a long way to prove that something is amiss. It is quite obvious President Mahama is feeling the heat.

His remark was supposed to end the media warfare between Mr. Bagbin and some presidential staffers. Sadly, that remark seems to have ignited a new public debate. Is he showing signs of frustration?

Only time will tell. Meanwhile the media, widely regarded as the fourth estate of the realm, is also busy indulged in its own politics, controversies, scandals or whatever you would describe it. The Ghana Journalists Association’s annual awards event is by far the most recgonised event for Ghanaian journos.

This year’s event as usual had its own fair share of controversies. Apart from the organisation, which has seen little improvement over the previous year, everything else was the same—monotonous and boring.

It is no secret that some of the awards or categories are sponsor-driven, which is not ethical. The result is new categories being created as and when there is sponsorship. The desire to reward excellence must be genuine and not done to appease sponsors.

Some of the awards too have become redundant, if you ask me. When you have a category such as Radio Programme of the Year (Ga), which other station will win it apart from Obonu FM? As far as broadcasting in the Ga language is concerned, Obunu FM has little or no competition at all.

For someone who has been practicing journalism for more than a decade to be given the Young and Most Promising Journalist of the Year is very scandalous. Hannah Acheampong and David Adadevor are two persons who have years of experience in journalism.

What is promising about these two when they are already on top of their game? Well, that’s the GJA for you -- always courting controversy.

As journalists, if we are not able to criticise our parent body, we have no moral right to be criticising others. GJA has taken journalists for granted for too long a time. Each year, they do what amounts to an electoral charade and the same people get to the helm of affairs.

Come next year, there must be innovation. The media landscape has gone beyond the traditional radio, print and TV. New media is fully developed and the GJA awards must reflect the modern trend. The awards night is not a time for boring and uninspiring speeches. The day belongs to journalists; let them enjoy to the max.

The role of a journalist is to keep the society on the right path, and GJA is not above that!

Congrats to Kingsley Obeng Kyereh, the Journalist of the Year!

I’m out!

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Shameless display of greed and theft; are we fighting a lost cause?

Once upon a time, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan were countries Ghana could stand head to head with. Indeed, we had a resilient economy which was the brightest in the sub-Saharan region. That was just a little over four decades ago.

While these countries worked on their deficiencies, we stood still to watch. Few years down the line, their fortunes have seen a complete turnaround. They possess economies that have become models for most developing countries.

Of course the parameters for these countries were not exactly the same despite some striking similarities. For every two step we take, we take three backwards. Over the years, our leaders have become “visionless, clueless, directionless and purposeless.”

Since the time Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa into this country, the crop’s fate has not changed. We still export the beans in its raw state. The nature of our economy, indeed, has not changed since the Guggisberg era.

The only thing which seems to have changed, however for the worst, is the way our leaders plunder public monies. In recent times, corruption has become part of our daily news bulletin. The news is never complete without report of financial malfeasance.

Watching proceedings of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and the Sole Commissioner’s Judgement Debt will make your heart cringe. Some of our leaders, mostly well-educated have proven to be the worst culprits of such nation wrecks.

Of course I can’t readily mention names of such culprits but a cursory look will at least give you a clue. We have had the era of kickbacks, judgement debts and now let’s welcome the era of institutionalized corruption. Under this category, we have had the likes of GYEEDA, SUBAH, SADA and many more.

We have never as a country demonstrated a political will to fight corruption. In fact most cases, it is an open secret that those supposed to protect the public purse themselves are usually neck deep in corruption. It is really a worrying trend.

The recent trend of corruption point to a grand collusion scheme between those in government and some private individuals who are mostly party financiers. Normally you listen to the monies involved in such enterprises and you wonder whether it is worth dying for this country.

We have reduced Parliament to the approval of loans and grants agreements; which they do on almost daily basis. Without any iota of shame, we append our signatures to some meagre loan amounts which we could have easily raised domestically.

As if that’s not in enough, when these leaders travel, they go cup in hand begging like a primary school pupil who has lost his pocket money. Really shameful. I am not against lobbying for foreign direct investment; every country needs more of that.

What I don’t get is when we beg for funds to complete infrastructural developments. Almost all of our major infrastructure developments in this country have come by way or was assisted by some donor support. The list is endless; now you have the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange which is being assisted by the Brazilians.

There’s no free lunch anywhere. The support we get from donors are taxes paid by their citizens which are meant to be invested properly. So if you think the Brazilian support, which just like any other, is a dash, you certainly belong to Mars.

Hidden in most of these agreements is a clause or two that always inure to the benefit of the donor. When I heard that the Circle Interchange will cost a little over 78 million euros, I nearly wept. So is it that money that we can’t afford or what?

We have never had monies for developments but we are willing to spend over Ghs1billion on GYEEDA, close to US$500million on judgement debts, Ghs144million on SubahInfosolutions etc for particular no returns.

The crass corruption in this country is what has plummeted our economy to this abyss; the levels that saw us go HIPC. Those in charge of our purse are busily finding creative means to “create, loot and share” without thinking about the health of this economy.

No country will ever take us serious if we continue to squander public funds in that manner. Most of the monies we generate locally, apart from being used as wages for public sector workers, goes down the drain; lost forever.

How much did the George Walker Bush N1 Highway cost? Less than US$75 million but I tell you if it had been a Government of Ghana (GoG) funded project, it would have cost not more than US$150 million to the tax payer.

Some people treat this country with no jot of conscience. The kayayo, shoeshine, waakye seller, pure water seller, those selling “burkina” in traffic intersections; all they have wanted from a decent government is to be able to access basic healthcare, decent roads and at least reliable utilities.

The National Health Insurance Scheme is on its knees begging to be saved. Our roads a dogged with heavy traffic because where interchanges were supposed to have been constructed, we have put traffic lights or roundabouts in their stead all because our “no money” syndrome.

As for the utilities, in some areas water is scarcer than gold and with our electricity, it comes and goes off at will. Sometimes I hate it when I am asked that dreaded question. “Are we becoming a failed state?” I hate to think that way but I don’t think we are on the trajectory to economic revolution either.

As long as every month, monies –no matter how small, are deducted from my salary under the guise of “income tax” I owe nobody an apology for demanding the right thing. These shameless theft of the poor people’s monies must stop, someday.

No country ever develops on the back of donor support. We need to untie ourselves from the strings of the donor countries’ aprons.

Our elders say, when an adult watches unconcerned as children savour the meat of the serpent; he will surely be considered as one of them.

Enough of the review committees, government must sit-up, now!

I’m out.

Richard Annerquaye ABBEY

Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).