Ghana: Falling into Organized Chaos

Most English speaking West Africans see Ghana as the place “where it is happening.” My Nigerian and sierra Leonean friends in the United States sing Ghana’s praises. “The economy is good, Democracy is vibrant and thriving, peace abounds everywhere,” chorus: – “Hallelujah, Amen! “

They route their visits home through Ghana, inundate me with stories of their family members transfer from schools in their native countries to the Ghanaian Universities of LEGON and KNUST. They feed me starry eyed tales of relatives who are moving or have moved to Ghana to live and work.

Fellow West Africans are not the only performers singing the “hail Ghana” anthem to a crescendo. The United States media enrolled in that orchestra with President Obama’s visit to Ghana. Three successive US Presidents have visited and praised Ghana. President Obama recently cited the nation (to an international body) as a model for emerging third world economies.

And Ghana’s economy is about to receive a jolt of petroleum dollars - millions annually. Does this make Ghana the shining city a hill top? Is the country posed - as many believe – to duplicate the successes of the south eastern Asian nations (S. Korea, Taiwan etc.) in the coming decade?

NO!! For years, Ghana has been tethering on a fragile rope along a cliff face overlooking a sea of chaos and lawlessness. That rope is about to snap and our beloved Ghana will fall into organized CHAOS muddled by oily dollars.

Where does this ludicrous claim come from when Ghana’s leading politicians, economists, main media, the IMF, the World Bank, visiting dignitaries all paint a rosy picture of a nation soaring to new heights?

Ghanaian politicians and economists don’t care about truth. They only care about their pockets. Visiting dignitaries don’t see the true everyday Ghana. They only see what the host want them to see. And if they see otherwise, they cannot “bad mouth” their host. The IMF and World Bank only see what is on paper – and Ghana looks good on paper.

Most members of the Ghanaian media are in the system and therefore blinded by it. Those who can see have clients and friends in the government or main opposition party to protect. This author, an Akan raised on the adage “NO ONE POINTS TO THE MOTHER’S VILLAGE WITH THE LEFT HAND,” believes that truth must be told so that corrective measures can be put in place to give Ghana a fighting chance.

Ghana is a free country, arguably freer than the United States of America. Like the US, it has a functioning government based on the rule of law. The problem is nobody enforces its laws; everybody does what pleases him or her and if the law is contravened in the process, it is done with impunity. It is this lack of law enforcement that makes Ghana freer than the United States.

In the United States the police are highly respected. Most people who break laws get cited or arrested and end up in the Courts. Offended citizens sue and seek redress in the Courts. It is not a perfect system but it works great and nobody is above the law, not even the President. In South Eastern Asia, discipline is paramount; citizens are very patriotic to nation and do what is expected of them.

In Ghana on the other hand, the police are a joke. Only scapegoats, the miserably poor, the notorious and the obnoxious ever get arrested. Many of these manage to bribe the police and end their case. The few cases that trickle through the Courts are reportedly “too many.” Even the bench participates in bribery. Thank heavens Ghana is not a violent society! Everybody would be decimated!

Ghana is also one of the most undisciplined and unpatriotic nations on God’s earth. Citizens have no sense of duty, responsibility or commitment to society or country. Ghanaians deliberately do the wrong thing and plead for mercy “please Master, I beg you.” The most popular saying around is “that belongs to the government; it is not my father’s or uncle’s” a local expression meaning “I don’t give a damn about national welfare or public property.”

Ghanaian officials and institutions do not fare any better. They are riddled with corruption, cronyism, and nepotism. Ours is a society of master magicians and grand illusionists. Nothing is done above board. Nothing is what it seems. Things are deliberately compounded so that officials, bureaucrats, technocrats and politicians can line their pockets with bribes and (10%) cuts.

Truthfulness has been outlawed in Ghana; efficiency, banished. The computer is just a replacement of the Type Writer; computer networking and associated storage, means nothing besides Google, Yahoo and Face book. Records are nonexistent. Thus it is impossible to enter any Ghanaian office and ask for a duplicate or copy of an issued document without starting a new one from the scratch.

It is also impossible to know how many Ghanaians live in the country. The 2010 Census will not provide the answer; the process is riffed with fabrications and there is no baseline for comparison. Anybody within the country’s borders can claim to be a Ghanaian and can procure a Birth Certificate, a Driver’s License, a Voter’s ID, or a Ghanaian passport.

Drivers drive around like maniacs; traffic is choked up (in cities and towns) with cars, cargo trucks, hand pulled trucks and hawkers on foot weaving through traffic selling anything and everything. Insurance companies collect money from motorists by law but abrogate their obligations when accidents occur.

City / town streets are turned into markets, sidewalks into vendor stands as people set up and sell wares wherever. Squatters build unauthorized kiosks on public lands, city streets and roads then demand to be resettled when asked to move. Resettlement for places they were not supposed to be: Period!

Construction is largely unregulated. Individuals build anyhow with whatever materials. Authorities provide no oversight. State contractors do shoddy work, maintenance is an abomination. Contracts are always awarded to predetermined winners. Officials feed the expectant figures to the pre-approved winner while asking three other contractors to submit bogus bids as they await their own turn.

A country’s laws are only as good as their enforcement. Its development tied to the discipline, patriotism and accountability of citizens. Any country with lots of money in the hands of undisciplined unpatriotic gentry is a ticking time bomb. Ghanaians need a serious change of attitude before OIL REVENUE hits the economy and send our dear nation spiraling down the doldrums of organized chaos.

BY L. KOJO YEBOAH Raleigh, NC; USA