Ghana preps to the polls: Ghanaians, think, think well, think well Now!

So soon, another quadrennial election season is upon us. The acrimony engendered by our winner-take-all and relatively unfettered presidential system grins out its gnashing teeth to tear us apart again; howbeit temporarily, because in this forth republic we have won the African accolade of that stable democracy consisting of a people who are wise enough to agree to disagree in their heavily political governance culture.

Ours has been a highly polarized multi-party system that has not done much good for our practical development. It seems to be the case that the two dominant political parties, having worked hard enough to polarize much of our civil society space, have not been competent enough, so far, to produce the life-changing transformation desired, deserved and demanded by a mere 33million smart citizens who, sitting on gold along a rich coastal line and endowed tropical savanna mixed-forestry, seem to love peace more than development as if they were naive about the necessary connection between the two.

We all want peace. But how can we have peace if there is deadly poverty, fatalistic illiteracy and inhuman inequality? There can be no true lasting peace without real and consistent development.

As we go to the polls in December 2024, hoping the Electoral Commission (EC) will do its job professionally enough so we can all behold another free fair and transparent election possibly without going to the Supreme Court, let us who claim to be a discerning electorate raise the bar of responsibility for ourselves so that we can effectively respond to the challenges that seek to seal our lips in any attempt to call the politicians to order. They seek our mandate, they must listen to our “instructions”!

In talking about responsibility of citizens in an election year, better late than never, one acknowledges that the ordinary Ghanaian is becoming politically smart at a very fast pace. For example, it is virtually becoming common place for delegates to demand money from political candidates to decide who they vote for during intra-party primaries. This development of political smartness has sunk us deeper in the muddy pit of corruption. It is a smartness that citizens seem to have been forced to apply because of the persistent corruption political leaders seem to have engrossed themselves in.

Politicians are perceived to be stealing state resources, and they have designed the laws in such a way as to make it difficult for them to be caught. And if they are not caught by the legal system dare you call them thieves, they will sue you!

So the ordinary citizen is unable to fight against the “system” but because he must also survive, he steals at his level and insists to sell his votes for cash so he can take care of his family. Thus, we have created a system to destroy ourselves with corruption at all levels. We are becoming morally bankrupt!

Enter: Think

Moral bankruptcy in the civic space is deadly. We need to think about how we are organizing and managing civil society opportunities in our dear country. A polarized civil society front is a display of irresponsible citizenship. Honesty demands that any person with political interest, much more partisan desires, should come clean to be recognized as politically exposed and limited in objectivity. But to hide in the civil society space and perpetuate double standards is immoral.

This goes for our media professionals, academia, religious leaders and civil society organisations (CSOs) Those in there who are affiliated to political parties, overtly or covertly, must return to the objective space of political neutrality so that citizens can have someone to trust when the politicians on both sides are manipulating information for their selfish gains.

Politically aligned civil society organisations, journalists and clergy do not say much about the evils perpetuated by the political party they secretly are affiliated to; and they benefit a lot when their party is in power. Shouldn’t we do something concrete about this? Should we throw our hands in the air and say that there is nothing we can do about that because it is so-called human nature. Is it not mere cowardice underpinned by unnecessary selfishness ( that is if selfishness can ever be necessary)?

Public service is dying in Ghana. Yet we seem not to be thinking about this grave concern? If we make revival of our public service a major requirement for the politicians who seek our vote, it might save us and our future. Public service is not an issue of political ideology so we can neither allow property owning ideologues to ignore it nor social democrats to usurp it. Effective public service is the responsibility of a thinking public.

Why does it look like GBC is gradually dying and nobody cares? Because politicians and their governments, anywhere in the world, don’t do what the people expect but what the people inspect and insist.

When the issue of TV license came up to help GBC generate funds to deliver efficient public service journalism, it was shot down by who knows who? Perhaps we just want GBC to collapse so that one of us can come and offer a bid to own this colossal national asset. Yes, one of us. Because we are all like our political leaders. When we get the chance to be where they are we became just like them. Ei, Ghana, why?

Why is CHRAJ never adequately resourced so that it can efficient meet the required scale of instilling administrative justice in our governance system? Why is NCCE unable to do effective civic education to reach the depth of our rural communities with vital civic information so that the least of our rural folks can make the most informed civic choices when they need to? Why is the department of Social Welfare neglected and left to the mercy of external development partners? Why is decentralization not working for us? Why is alcohol allowed to ruin our young people?

There is no one in political power who is really concerned about public service. So State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are a burden to the financial resources of the country because they are never profitable when managed by government unless the government sells it to a private crony to make selfish gains to seek power and control over the vulnerable masses?

Soon, we are told, we may not have the capacity to generate common clean drinking water. Because the gold diggers have destroyed our rivers and our public water company is not capable of effectively managing itself, seemingly. Why is public service dying and we would soon elect politicians who may kill it faster? Ghana, please think!

In the last election, we the electorate sent a clear message of how we could manifest our disappointment. Skirt-and-blouse voting produced a hung-parliament. But did we get the potential gains?

But more than think, we must think well. We, both as a global generation and as a local nation, have stopped talking about moral bankruptcy because we think morality is relative and should not be a key reference in governance because one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Yet, given that morality is founded on rationality, it is impossible for us to be rational without acknowledging the practicality of moral absolutes in governance and development. Corruption is absolutely immoral because it is absolutely irrational.

Rational thinking requires us to focus on our moral institutions and if morality is the shrine of spirituality, then our churches are at the center of our governance challenges, not just the ruling government at any given time.

How is it that people who go to church steal from the public purse? How is it that politicians who do not honour their governance responsibilities, including making sure that our natural resources are not looted away in opaque contracts, are able to meet with church people and ecumenical councils, and cannot be told truth to the face? Are we thinking well?

Why do we keep on attending churches who take money from poor people in the name of God and their leaders enrich themselves, unlike Christ? The problem is not with the Bible, it is with those of us who claim to be Christians but who refuse to study God’s word and allow charlatans to mislead us in pseudo-Pentecostalism, charismatic gymnastics and sedative orthodoxy.

Our churches must rethink their sordid state and rise up to save our nation ; not with empty sermons laden with hypocrisy as they grab political favours behind the scenes. But with the practical repentance and godliness that removes the mask of hypocrisy and speaks truth to power.

Thinking well may lead us to recognize that evil, corruption of all forms, is speedily swallowing our country and we must take meticulous steps to address it if we ever hope to overcome ( and hopelessness should not be an option).

This years election might be a good opportunity to see how the Ghanaian electorate treat our disappointing politicians who are warming up to usher in the political flu season of electioneering campaigns. They have been very disappointing yet They think we quickly forget the recycling of their corrupt practices and will easily forgive them because we ourselves, the people, are also morally unclean at our level.

Yes, every people may deserve their political leaders but the recurring consequences of corruption on our family members who are dying in hospitals because of lack of resources and our children who are perishing in delinquencies because inadequate budgets for quality free education will make as think well and vote well in December 2024.

Corruption has swallowed our history and is threatening our future. Today it is the KPMG SML report and sale of SSNIT hotels. Yesterday it was about GYEDA and SADA. We don’t know tomorrow.; it might be a blue economy scandal that we allowed to destroy our oceans and actual existence because we failed to do the due diligence required to safe us from a global mis-direction.

If we would ever think well as a people, as the Africa Union turn 61 years today, Ghana must think well now and lead Africa out of the depths of corrupt leadership. We must appropriate the birthright of being our continent’s first independent country, south of the Sahara. We have to think well now!