How Honest are you?

This is a sermon I heard over the weekend in my Church, and thought I could share with anyone who really cares and looks forward to a” better tomorrow” in Ghana. Corruption and greed is so deep rooted in our society to the extend that some of us wonders if it could ever be overcome. We thought the end of military rule in Ghana will bring an end to all but with the two civilian administrations we’ve had so far, nothing has fundamentally changed. During the infamous Acheampong regime, students went on demonstrations several times decrying the corrupt nature of that regime and we all hoped/believed that if the fathers who led the independence struggle were corrupt, a new breed of Ghanaians will soon emerge and things will change. But no. This social cancer that characterized the regime then, continues unabated. Sadly, some of us have grown up with it. Am not saying all Ghanaians are corrupt. No, there’re selfless dedicated ones out there working tirelessly to sustain all of us and to these honest ones, I salute them. But to the majority of us bent on destroying our own nation with our own hands and attitude, have we paused a minute to consider the harm we’re causing to our fatherland? The sermon:”Several years ago, a man knocked on the door of a minister late at night. He said, “I’ve been walking up and down the street wondering if I should disturb you. I need someone to talk to”. He was on a first assignment with a well- known consulting firm, evaluating the operating of a failing company in the City. For a fee of £20000 (euro), the consultants were to determine the reasons for the losses of the company and to chart a way for profits.

The man went on” I worked for months to get this job and it’s just what I wanted. But, though it’s easy to see many faults in its operation and cite remedies, I am convinced that we’re charging this company an exorbitant fee far beyond its power to absorb and far the proper charge for the services we are rendering. Should I resign and tell the board of the company how I feel?.My responsibility to my family disturbs me. Do I have the right to renounce a good salary and impose hardships on my family until I get another job?”.The minister did not tell him specifically what to do, but did tell him that to be honest with all concerned was far more important to him and his family than any financial consideration. He resigned, renounced, any salary or payment for his expenses, and presented his views personally to the company. He went home to wait out till obtaining another job. It was an instance of an effort to be honest.

Politicians often pose a credibility gap with false promises, malicious slander and self aggrandizement. People are ready to falsify documents, and traders fix their prices, manipulate measures and misrepresent wares. Service people overcharge, and make shoddy repairs. Tax payers evade their legal obligations, and professional people prey on the helplessness of the ignorant and weak in the society with exorbitant charges. Husbands cheating on their wives and viceversa. There are exceptions in every category, but dishonesty is so common in our society that all of us are tempted to practice it. Most of us know what it is to salve our consciences with our rationalizations. Our rationalizing is our dishonesty with ourselves. Our first challenge is to correct this, for if we do not do this we will correct no other dishonesty. Men can deceive themselves and be honestly unaware of it, but no person can be honestly unaware of all his falseness to himself. Honesty with self, will lead to honesty with others, for all men know that the conscious misleading of others has in its nature dishonesty with one’s self. If those at the top will not be honest what about us ?

By OBOURBA ASANTE TAARDO.