The faces behind the mess in Ghana

Since infancy society through socialization has taught us that politicians cause any anomaly in society. Various musicians have expressed their dissatisfaction through their songs. “This be the economy, Bad!”, “Bronya anye de aa na efiri dumsor”, and others are the titles. Therefore anytime anyone like my very good friend Solomon Anampansa (Pasolo) aspires to be a politician, he/she is automatically tagged as a thief, even those with very good intentions.

I realized most of the hardship in the country, “dumsor”, unreasonable increase in prices leading to high cost of living, among others have other people responsible rather than the usual “suspects” – politicians. This has derailed them of the honor they ought to receive as honorable people. I am not saying all politicians are upright, but they are innocent of most of the charges.

A larger proportion of our plights as a nation are caused by “ordinary Ghanaians”-the Citizens. We behave like “ANOMAA KOKONEKONE ” which goes to the north to contaminate the water and come to the south to ask who contaminated it.

We cause the harm, after we feel the impact, we displace our frustration to others mostly those of the political class. As a nation, we face so many problems, from filth in the country, unreasonable high pricing leading to high cost of living, to power shortage.

In 1965, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah completed the Akosombo Dam to serve the country with power. We had enough power such that as at 2006 we were exporting electricity to Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire in addition to the 60 percent that VALCO used to buy. Yes, population has increased but definitely not the cause of “dumsor” because power supply rose from 167 megawatts to 2000 megawatts by 2010.

Energy crises became quite popular in 2002, under the Kufuor administration. His administration put measures like distributing energy saving bulbs to replace onion bulbs, desensitizing the citizens of the country through educative programs and songs. For years, second-hand freezers which consume incredibly high voltage are used in most Ghanaian homes.

Dumsor has long being a problem in this country but seems to have intensified in the Mahama administration. But who caused it? Will multiple energy sources solve the problem?

In 2007, India was producing 5500 megawatts of electricity, far more than the amount the country needed but that was the year they experienced “Dumsor”- multiple sources didn’t solve the problem. One who can’t manage a little cannot manage a lot. Clearly, Dumsor may persist despite the addition of the power barges.

The problem is usage, Most of us leave home with too many equipment still working, the use of second-hand fridges and refrigerators and 24 hours lit street lights leading to a substantive waste in power. The solution is not multiple energy sources but power conservation. “What can the righteous man do if the foundations are destroyed”-psalm 11:3. The foundation of power shortage is power wastage and hence dumsor’s remedy is energy conservation and not multiple sources.

The high cost of living in the country is largely caused by citizens. Most sellers cheat buyers especially when they look rich. Few days back, a friend from the United States noticed this problem. He was picking a taxi to a place that should cost about GHC20, the taxi noticing his American accent said the fare is USD 15.00. Out of anger, he(my friend) insulted the driver and looked elsewhere for another taxi. Some market women sell the same products and quantities depending on your appearance.

One way or the other, fuel prices dictate pricing in Ghana. In October 2015, fuel prices decreased in the country. Petrol which cost 3.476 per liter dropped to between 2.5859 and 2.820 and diesel which cost 3.per liter dropped to between 2.769 and 2.720 per liter.

Amidst this decrement, GPRTU did not hold a meeting to negotiate price decrement, but immediately fuel prices blotted with exorbitant tariffs, they immediately held a meeting to negotiate fare increment. We all know that when fares increase, even those who are not affected pretend as if they are, leading to the frequent hardship.

Pure water sellers also followed suit forgetting that “whatever goes around, comes around.”

Ghana has to move forward. We have been marking time for too long. The country is full of crying and complains. We vote and change political parties hoping one of them will take us from captivity but what we see after their terms in office is aggravation of plights. We don’t need change in government, what we need is a monumental mental shift.

University Of Ghana, Legon

Kwfrimpong@gmail.com