All thanks and praises, are due to the Almighty God for bringing us all this years as a nation fostering in unity, love and harmony amongs ourselves despite the few differences and challenges we have encountered over the years. A nation described widely as the beacon of democracy in Africa is worth celebrating.

My message to fellow citizens is that let us ensure and demand accountability from office holders for us to achieve a Ghana Beyond Aid. This is the sure way to reach the greater heights we expect in our national development. We have come far and have achieved a lot and must be proud of our nation and country. Every year we hear people, Ghanaians of course ask the question “what have we achieved? What do we have to show? After long years of independence. Forgetting that we all have a quota to contribute towards nation building. The president cannot police traffic on the road or chase after criminals, supervise teaching and learning, attend to patients at the hospital or clear rubbish from the street. But we must all do well in our little corners as citizens and Ghana would be Beyond Aid.

The monster called corruption is the only stone in our rice making mastication (development) difficult. Corruption has links with smaller monsters and motivate them. These smaller monsters include insecurity, poverty, diseases and conflicts. Corruption triggers insecurity when the corrupt officer because of love for luxury and ill-gotten wealth denies the energetic youth of jobs who in turn use their energy to give the rest of us sleepless nights. Poor families have their children except for the God chosen few end up been energetic and sometimes skillful but jobless joining the fold of miscreants. As they say the wolf catches the lonely sheep. Diseases like malaria, cholera, HIV AIDS among others still threaten our lives, pockets of conflicts of tribal, chieftaincy and of land in nature threatens our piece, budgets not forgetting the lives lost and the injured.

Corruption had its hands in the Burning of the Central Medical Stores which has continued to date to hamper our medical supplies. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program to give support to the poor ends up in the pockets of corrupt officials with peanuts left for the few chosen beneficiaries. The politically sponsored chieftaincy conflicts around the country and the now politically motivated armed robbery insecurities as former President Rawlings will like us note all have links to corruption. Perhaps some people feel without piece, prosecution of corrupt officers will not see the light of day.

Now as we hail and praise Martin Amidu for his appointment as special prosecutor which comes with its high hopes let us try in our various corners to act like Martin Amidu in our work places and offices especially public servants entrusted with state resources. The monster is bigger than one Martin Amidu. So train your children to be like Martin and then you have a Martin in every corner, office or home in this country. There we would be able to defeat that frightening levels of corruption our nation has been plagued into.

All you need to do is to ensure accountability when it is you who must account and demand accountability when it’s you who should demand but with due process and not by violent means. For the black man fears accountability and at the lack of accountability, his mind gets polluted and the temptation to steal is higher. Happy 61st Anniversary to all citizens.

God bless our homeland Ghana

And make our nation great and strong

The writer: sulemunkaila83@gmail.com