Are African Leaders Disposed To Corruption? …..The Case Of Ghana and Positive Change.
My fellow countrymen hang your political jackets for a second and put on the beautiful colors of red, yellow, green and the black star as I dissect the infectious diseases that have brought us to where we are today. What went wrong? What happened to positive change? When did it transform to witch hunting? What happened to the so called great journalists? Why did Kwaku Baako sell his soul and credibility?There are different arguments rationalizing this madness. Those who attribute it to internal reasons namely regional ties, ethnic allegiance, external family obligations and other nonsense are used to elucidate this disease. Other school of thought attributes it to external pressures including IMF, world bank and misguided policies of international donors. I hereby state venal leaders are the curse of Africa. For once in my life I felt proud of our democratic process when we voted out incumbency in 2000. We were promised positive change but were handed a raw deal. We brought in kleptocratic leaders who care less about the ordinary Ghanaian who has to wait on lines each morning to answer natures call in maggot-infested bathrooms. Meanwhile our so called leaders are outside the country having babies. The shameful experience of colonization has an everlasting impact on our leaders who feel like the only way out is to appease to the west. President John “traveler” Kuffour is the poster boy of this syndrome. He has no faith in the Ghanaian people to the extent that gold medals (oh yea we need them) are shipped from London. Are these not the same leaders who promised to crack down on brain drain? Are these not the same people who preached “made in Ghana” goods. Yet contracts are not given to the local goldsmith because he is not good enough. Kwaku Baako calls this globalization (news file July 12th 2008). What is wrong with the president and his non performing ministers awarding themselves? You answer it. BBC compared Kuffour to New York rap gangster 50 cent. I call him a “tropical gangster” Smart leaders like Andrew Awuni explain the need for Gold medals to compliment the golden sword. Wooooow! The democratic façade in Ghana needs to change. We all realize the geographical constraints leading to conflicts in some parts of Ghana but what have this government done to police this situation. Rural areas are still at a standstill due to exploitative, extractive and enclavistic developments that we see over there. This has totally marginalized and impoverished our rural brothers and sisters. Yet these same poor souls pay thousands of dollars to sponsor minsiters for international conferences who come home with “obroni ba” and gets reappointment and a national award. Only in Ghana. It’s shameful how such a prestigious event to honor exceptional Ghanaians who have made great contributions to our beloved nation has been reduced to the Hip Life music awards(I love hip life don’t get me wrong)
Ghanaians are thriving daily for their bread and butter and we have these visionless leaders who keep on depressing the little hope left in us. It’s about time these greedy leaders learnt something from Asian leaders who thrived to uplift their various nations. Do our leaders know anything about how the world economy works? Africa has always been the graveyard of well-intended reforms. The vacillating attitude of this NPP government is emblematic of this issue. Too many of these so called elites are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who feel like it is their turn to enjoy what is due them. An American economist Mancur Olson argues that time is the key. This theory explains that the predicament of national leaders is that, the pay off of most economic decisions lie in the future but they also have to hold onto power now. This is so true with John “50 cent” Kuffour. The threat of leaving office and opposition taking over has brought in the need to reward themselves. There is an Akan saying, “wo pre she ahenkye a obiara nsom wo” meaning if you rush for a crown no subject will bow to you. Such acts has made Africa and in this case Ghana backdrop of European modernity and civility.
The Kuffour government had the serene environment and public support to change the misfortunes of the nation around but what do we see? I thought it was conventional wisdom that low risk environments led to more reform-minded, pragmatic leaders but see what we have. The current trend of events in Ghana defies this logic. Are we really practicing democracy or ethnocracy. (I made it up). Dishonesty, thievery and nepotism pervade the public sector and President K4 is the chief bandit. Ghana has been reduced to a Mafia-like bazaar, where anyone with an official designation can pillage at will. My brothers and sisters of our land don’t lose hope. I hereby award all of you for keeping faith and not losing hope. You are the ones who deserve the awards.
May God bless Ghana.
By E.K. Oduro ( university of Albany New York) ekoduro1@hotmail.com.
Are African Leaders Disposed To Corruption? …..The Case Of Ghana and Positive Change.
My fellow countrymen hang your political jackets for a second and put on the beautiful colors of red, yellow, green and the black star as I dissect the infectious diseases that have brought us to where we are today. What went wrong? What happened to positive change? When did it transform to witch hunting? What happened to the so called great journalists? Why did Kwaku Baako sell his soul and credibility?There are different arguments rationalizing this madness. Those who attribute it to internal reasons namely regional ties, ethnic allegiance, external family obligations and other nonsense are used to elucidate this disease. Other school of thought attributes it to external pressures including IMF, world bank and misguided policies of international donors. I hereby state venal leaders are the curse of Africa. For once in my life I felt proud of our democratic process when we voted out incumbency in 2000. We were promised positive change but were handed a raw deal. We brought in kleptocratic leaders who care less about the ordinary Ghanaian who has to wait on lines each morning to answer natures call in maggot-infested bathrooms. Meanwhile our so called leaders are outside the country having babies. The shameful experience of colonization has an everlasting impact on our leaders who feel like the only way out is to appease to the west. President John “traveler” Kuffour is the poster boy of this syndrome. He has no faith in the Ghanaian people to the extent that gold medals (oh yea we need them) are shipped from London. Are these not the same leaders who promised to crack down on brain drain? Are these not the same people who preached “made in Ghana” goods. Yet contracts are not given to the local goldsmith because he is not good enough. Kwaku Baako calls this globalization (news file July 12th 2008). What is wrong with the president and his non performing ministers awarding themselves? You answer it. BBC compared Kuffour to New York rap gangster 50 cent. I call him a “tropical gangster” Smart leaders like Andrew Awuni explain the need for Gold medals to compliment the golden sword. Wooooow! The democratic façade in Ghana needs to change. We all realize the geographical constraints leading to conflicts in some parts of Ghana but what have this government done to police this situation. Rural areas are still at a standstill due to exploitative, extractive and enclavistic developments that we see over there. This has totally marginalized and impoverished our rural brothers and sisters. Yet these same poor souls pay thousands of dollars to sponsor minsiters for international conferences who come home with “obroni ba” and gets reappointment and a national award. Only in Ghana. It’s shameful how such a prestigious event to honor exceptional Ghanaians who have made great contributions to our beloved nation has been reduced to the Hip Life music awards(I love hip life don’t get me wrong)
Ghanaians are thriving daily for their bread and butter and we have these visionless leaders who keep on depressing the little hope left in us. It’s about time these greedy leaders learnt something from Asian leaders who thrived to uplift their various nations. Do our leaders know anything about how the world economy works? Africa has always been the graveyard of well-intended reforms. The vacillating attitude of this NPP government is emblematic of this issue. Too many of these so called elites are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who feel like it is their turn to enjoy what is due them. An American economist Mancur Olson argues that time is the key. This theory explains that the predicament of national leaders is that, the pay off of most economic decisions lie in the future but they also have to hold onto power now. This is so true with John “50 cent” Kuffour. The threat of leaving office and opposition taking over has brought in the need to reward themselves. There is an Akan saying, “wo pre she ahenkye a obiara nsom wo” meaning if you rush for a crown no subject will bow to you. Such acts has made Africa and in this case Ghana backdrop of European modernity and civility.
The Kuffour government had the serene environment and public support to change the misfortunes of the nation around but what do we see? I thought it was conventional wisdom that low risk environments led to more reform-minded, pragmatic leaders but see what we have. The current trend of events in Ghana defies this logic. Are we really practicing democracy or ethnocracy. (I made it up). Dishonesty, thievery and nepotism pervade the public sector and President K4 is the chief bandit. Ghana has been reduced to a Mafia-like bazaar, where anyone with an official designation can pillage at will. My brothers and sisters of our land don’t lose hope. I hereby award all of you for keeping faith and not losing hope. You are the ones who deserve the awards.
May God bless Ghana.
By E.K. Oduro ( university of Albany New York) ekoduro1@hotmail.com.
