For many years now, Ghanaians have been crying out against corruption and mismanagement. Whenever a group of Ghanaians meet for discussions, whether it is in Accra, London, Frankfurt, New York, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta or any other place where Ghanaians reside, the meeting almost always ends up in the discussion of corruption and how it has become endemic in our society. Many Ghanaians write articles about it and publish them on Ghanaweb. Many Ghanaians read these articles and pour out their anger and frustration through the comments they write but still the corruption rages on unabated. We can safely draw the conclusion that merely talking about this will not cut it. In a clear display of impudence, those engaging in corruption in Ghana appear to be stealing more openly and in greater quantities the more people talk about it. These people have lost all sensitivity to the issue and indulge in it all the more. It has become second nature – or is it first nature – to them. Until we get leaders who demonstrate great and genuine passion to fighting corruption by severely punishing the perpetrators, Ghana’s development will continue to be an elusive ideal, but it is clear that the leaders will not act unless they are forced to do so.
In fact, corruption has become so prevalent in the Ghanaian society that many hitherto honest people are waxing cold in their integrity and are gradually giving in to the lure of becoming rich by stealing and cutting corners. More and more Ghanaians will be infested with this evil if it is not punished. It is almost getting too late but it is not too late yet. Our dear nation can and must be rescued. If we continue to only discuss these issues of bribery, corruption and mismanagement in isolation or in groups of three or four, nothing will be done. This is the usual divide and conquer tactic employed by any enemy. It is only when we come together and actually craft effective methods and implement these methods consistently and forcefully, with all necessary seriousness, that we can overcome this strong enemy called corruption.
Corruption in Ghana feeds on two main allies in the Ghanaian society – Tribalism and Political Party Patronage. Leaders are unwilling to punish corruption consistently and without bias. They want to punish only those corrupt officials who don’t belong to their party or their tribe. With such attitude, these leaders don’t have any credibility to fight corruption and create the orderly environment that is a necessary prerequisite to any meaningful national economic and social development. We need a new Ghana and a new Ghanaian. To this end, an organization has been formed to bring together Ghanaians from all tribes, all political party affiliations and all walks of life to craft effective and forceful methods to fight corruption. The organization is Ghanaians for Accountable Government, GhAG. GhAG is a truly non-tribal, non-political organization with the sole purpose of working for the people of Ghana to force Governments to be accountable to the people and to punish corruption and, in the process, create an orderly society in which economic and social developments can take place to propel Ghana to become a nation with a viable and vibrant economy. This group does not want to just pay lip service to fighting corruption. It actually seeks to be a strong force in the Ghanaian society to “put fire under the feet of governments” and compel them to punish corruption. We, as a nation, can do better than we are doing.
GhAG is planning to hold a conference on “Corruption and Mismanagement in Ghana” in Silver Spring, Maryland (in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area) in April 2013. All Ghanaians are invited to this conference. Please stay tuned for more information and plan to attend this all important conference. If you have any suggestions, please send them to cappeadu@aol.com ; pwelsing@sbcglobal.net; tpanford@msn.com; ekadade@yahoo.com; kwamegyan1@gmail.com; kwboah@gmail.com.