Western institutions must be held accountable for corruption in Africa - Okyenhene

The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin has said world leaders and the Western economies can't be exonerated in the complicity of corruption on the Africa continent.

He said some actions and inactions of the Western leaders contribute to the menace of corruption in Africa.

The Okyenhene mentioned that the world leaders have made their countries a haven for corrupt politicians and Africa leaders to hide and enjoy their stolen wealth.

"If I walk to the bank today to deposit $ 15,000, the teller will take the money and report to the bank manager. The Bank manager will invite me and inquire about the sources of that money. However the African leaders have their way of depositing huge monies in foreign banks without facing probes. Why must it be so?" he quizzed.

Delivering a lecture under the theme: "Sustainable Leadership in African Governance" at the School of Management, University of Bradford in the UK, the revered chief hinted that many African leaders and politicians have their way of depositing huge monies in foreign accounts and investing in real estate

business abroad without questions.

Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin said leaders must be bold and question these investments by African leaders in their countries.

“Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away His life in exchange for the many who are held hostage," he added.

He thus called on African leaders to learn that service is the price people pay for the space they occupy.

Climate change:

Touching on climate change and its deadly effects, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori

Panin expressed disappointment in the leaders across the globe.

"I feel the leaders of the great nations that contribute volumes of carbon to damage the atmosphere are not doing enough. They sit at round tables to drink tea and laugh without concrete solutions to the catastrophic climate

change phenomenon," Osagyefuo said.

The traditional leader mentioned that the world is heading toward an apocalypse, indicating that, "we will soon perish."

He opined that we are all obsessed with material wealth if we continue in our insatiable quest to enlarge GDPs, increase shareholders' value, and build big corporate profits.

He said some of our actions have brought us untold consequences, but with strong leadership, we can repair some of these damages over time, and with the right policies, we can regain the respect of nature.

According to Okyenhene, scientists have warned that hitting net-zero emissions by 2050 is now “too little, too late" and will not achieve the long-term temperature goals identified in the Paris Agreement.

According to him, we have an arduous task on our hands. A shift in emphasis towards net-negative emissions using methods like carbon capture and storage is the “only viable option.”

"The global CO2 concentration in the Earth's atmosphere is currently rising at nearly 419.2 parts per million (ppm). This represents a 47.3 % increase since the beginning of the Industrial Age when the concentration was near 280 ppm, and an 11 % increase since 2000, when it was near 370," Osagyefuo quoted from research data.

The Kwaebibirimhene hinted that if the green gas emission rate continues this way, it will not take science to predict that by 2040, the air we breathe will contain 50+ % of the toxin, carbon dioxide.

He said it is scary to think that the world will soon become uninhabitable.

Touching on sustainable development and indigenous traditional governance, Okyenhene hinted that long before the invasion of the Westerners in Africa, there was a rule that our forebears lived under the "Rule of Nature."

He said under God’s Rule, one has to live in harmony with one’s environment and not dominate and destroy it.

He said our forebears understood and saw the earth as a sacred place, respected and defended that rule.

He said the African traditional leaders had indigenous knowledge that the early Europeans did not recognize, and because indigenous people didn’t share European ideas about land ownership, they were considered primitive; and had no desire to place the sources of their survival.

"This was the thinking of the early Europeans - in other words, they considered indigenous peoples lives as inferior," he said.

He furthered that the hazardous exploitation of our natural resources continues to threaten the survival of mankind.

Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin called for proper world leadership in saving the world and mankind from the danger ahead.