I have often seen and heard about things happening in Ghana that make me scratch my head and ask, “Can this be true?”

But then, my patriotic instinct would switch itself on and advise me to: “Ask first, whether it can happen “in Ghana!” That’s because, for all you know, it may have occurred somewhere else, not Ghana. Yet, people who don’t like Ghana, or more probably, its ruling government, are pretending that it happened here so as to shame Ghana, its people, and its government.”

That’s why I offer the item to you unedited so that you can make up your own mind whether it’s true or not. Of course, it’s from a media source, in this case, JOYNEWS, and you would, in case you chose to disbelieve it, ask yourself what such an established media organisation has to gain by publishing a false story from a village that few Ghanaians have ever heard of.

Is such a story worth forfeiting an organisation’s hard-won credibility for? Well, here’s the story:

Quote: “Source: Myjoyonline.com

17 July 2024, 7:17

“Nana Addo Boaman, the Chief of Nahinso in the Ashanti Region, was arrested by officials from the Asokwa Municipal Assembly for undertaking road works without official authorisation.

“He was subsequently released on bail over the weekend.

“Defending his actions, Nana Addo Boaman stated that he acted out of necessity due to the authorities’ failure to address the persistent problems with roads in the area.

“The poor road conditions have been causing significant flooding, posing hazards to both motorists and residents.

“For years, the community of Nahinso, located in the Asokwa Municipality and bordering the Bosomtwi District and Oforikrom Municipality, has been plagued by a deteriorating road network.

“Residents and motorists have continually voiced their frustrations and appealed for improvements.

Despite their persistent pleas, the road issues have remained unresolved, compelling the Chief to take matters into his own hands to mitigate the hazards and improve the community’s infrastructure.”

Now, in a perfect world, we would be fully informed about the officials who caused the chief to be arrested. We would also be told what the bosses of those officials did when they heard of what their subordinates had done.

But in my view, those are contingent factors that do not address the main issue. That is this: in 2024, after so many years that Ghanaians have had the opportunity to “rule themselves’ ‘, there are still people holding public appointments who do not understand, in the least, what promoting the public interest that they were appointed to promote consists of.

Many such officials believe that they were appointed to wear a tie and jacket and turn up in an office each day and say “Yes, sir!” to the next senior man in the establishment.

Only the senior man is expected to think. The rest just take orders.

Do you think that if those who ordered the Nanhin chief’s arrest properly understood that they were appointed to ensure that the Central Government became aware of the needs of the people they were appointed to serve and amongst whom they are supposed to live, they would cause the arrest of someone who merely wanted to help carry out repairs on a road that it is the duty of the government to keep motorable?

I would like to see the government take the opportunity to educate

Its officials understand the true meaning of representing the government in the hinterland. And also on the true nature of serving the public interest.

The government should also use the opportunity to educate its officials that gross stupidity in their ranks comes with a price, namely, dismissal.

The officials who caused the chief’s arrest may have thought that they were “protecting” the government because if people saw the roads being repaired through the efforts of the chief (and not the government), they would become “disaffectionate” with the government.

But that is the people’s right! It is indeed shortsighted to allow the government to ignore the needs of the people who elected it to power.

With their silly wish to enforce bureaucratic norms, the officials have in fact done the government a great disservice. For now, the whole country knows that some government officials would much rather hide problems than have them solved, especially if those who want to solve the problems are not government officials!

How silly! How absolutely silly!

“The government should also use the opportunity to educate its officials that gross stupidity in their ranks comes with a price, namely, dismissal."