What does it profit a nation? A troubled reflection on Ghana’s corruption, brain drain

I had just returned from the swimming pool, phone in hand, hoping a few mindless scrolls on Facebook might quiet a restless mind after a long day. Instead, the opposite happened.

Sitting on my friend’s couch, belly full of her generous cooking (for which I remain gratefully indebted), I found myself unable to rest. The thoughts simply would not settle.

Every time I open the news, my heart tightens for Ghana. Anxiety and quiet anger arrive uninvited. Why do we continue to endure crumbling roads while some of those entrusted with public office quietly grow fat on the proceeds of the state?

On this very day– 13 August 2026–I read of an accident that claimed the lives of eleven of our citizens. In the same breath, I learned (allegedly) that some nineteen million dollars had been squandered through corruption at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C.

How many kilometres of proper road could that sum have built?

How many jobs might it have created?

Must our people forever pack their bags and chase greener pastures elsewhere simply because the ground at home has been left barren?

It is a peculiar kind of national tragedy when lawyers, doctors, and other highly trained professionals leave these shores only to become Uber drivers, care workers, or toilers in menial jobs abroad.

What, exactly, does it take to build a country that retains its own talent? We lose so much to corruption. Can we not, at last, make our institutions work for the benefit of all citizens rather than a well-connected few?

Oh Mother Ghana!

When our leaders travel overseas and introduce themselves as such, do they feel any pride– or only the quiet discomfort of those who know the true condition of the house they claim to govern?

Do they truly carry the people in their hearts?

Does the unemployment rate keep them awake at night?

Are they troubled by the steady stream of citizens who will risk almost anything just to leave?

I borrow, and slightly adjust, a familiar biblical question: What does it profit a Ghanaian leader to gain riches through corrupt proceeds if the greater part of the citizenry remains poor and dependent upon him?

I rest my case– for now. I shall return.