The curse of sisyphus

I have always maintained that the normal Ghanaian politician, when he is looking for power, speaks in the language that we all understand but when he is given power, then he starts to speak Chinese.

In opposition, they seem to appreciate the problems that confront us as a country. They tell us how the sitting government is getting it all wrong.

They promise to take us out of the woods if we give them the nod and hand them power but, alas, like the old witch in the story of Hansel and Gretel, they end up luring us deep into the forest to fatten us with lies, fraudulent and fictitious schemes just to devour us.

The two political parties that have been at the helm of affairs of this country since the inception of the Fourth Republic have dealt deceitfully with us. But as for the current Akufo Addo government, the less said about them, the better.

They promised to ferry us safely from the shores of deprivation to the other side where milk and honey were in abundance only to abandon us in the middle of the river.

The insurmountable wind of change that heralded Akufo-Addo to the presidency due to the many many promises he gave was so overwhelming that, for the first time in our Fourth Republican history, the Ghanaian voter voted to give him a whopping one million more votes than his closest contender in the 2016 presidential elections.

Akufo Addo promised to protect the public purse but it appears he has given it to his cousins, cronies, and party apparatchiks to plunder and dissipate. Otherwise, how can one explain the sheer wanton embarkment on a borrowing spree by this government that has left our economy in tatters?

Sadly enough, most of this borrowing is spent on consumption and frivolous projects like a national cathedral! And why is it that his first cousin who happens to be his finance minister benefits directly anytime we go borrowing?

The much-touted Free Senior High School policy is fraught with so many difficulties to the extent that students and parents have to go through so much anxiety and stress whenever schools resume. The teacher and nurses' trainee allowances are also in limbo!! So I dare to ask in the typical Ghanaian parlance, did we go or did we come?

The economic situation in the country has gone so bad. Sadly, while the masses are being asked to tighten their belts to the left with the hope of a better future, the privileged few are developing potbellies and losing their belts to the right because of good living.

In the face of all the above, the ruling party is still confident about winning the 2024 elections. This does not come across as a surprise because politicians have great faith. One would not be wrong to say that, if such great faith was channeled toward the things of God, "this land of our death( or is it the land of our birth?)" would have been a wonderful place to live in.

I am beginning to begin to believe that our politicians have been cursed with the curse of Sisyphus. " The myth of Sisyphus tells the story of a man who is condemned to roll a rock to the top of a mountain, only to have the rock roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top."

This is so with our politicians. They go through thick and thin to win power only to lose it every eight years due to complacency, corruption, arrogance, and disrespect (like what the president said to the flood victims in the Volta Region).

After they lose power as a result of all of the above, they begin to struggle all over again to come back to power. As Camus puts it, "the Gods were wise in perceiving that an eternity of futile labour is a hideous punishment."

As Sisyphus deserved his punishment for cheating the gods, so must our politicians be punished at the polls anytime they toy with our minds and emotions.