Opinions of Sunday, 21 May 2017

Columnist: Dr. K. Danso

France's 2017 Presidential election transition process, lessons for Ghana

France President, Emmanuel Macron France President, Emmanuel Macron

I don't know who wrote the summary of France's May 2017 election of President Emmanuel Macron and the transition time and selection of Ministers! It is beautiful! There are lessons for Ghana!

France, a wealthy nation can have elections and within a week or two have all Ministers (only 22) appointed, from different parties, and started work!

It is a laugh and a cry to compare to Ghana! Until we, Ghanaians and other Africans get serious, 60 years after Independence, and stop

- the elaborate bureaucracy and empty showmanship pomp and pageantry,

- the excuses of being black and being victims and former colonies and so forth,

- and counting on God and prayer camps and leaving our brains behind;

- looking for good dwarfs and loans from other nations right after elections while buying dream $80,000 vehicles for officials;

- appointing only relatives or friends or party favorites as Ministers, and

- not even considering cost and job functions and skill levels in creating new Ministries,

We will perish as a people!

One can see our continent, in the next 50-100 years, being taken over by the 1,400 million hungry people of China who see such a beautiful continent of Africa being wasted and mismanaged due to poor leadership! The Chinese think Africans are not very intelligent but very friendly, and hence strategising with everything they got, including their business women as well as prostitutes, to take land and mining concessions and learning our language fluently.

The Question is:

- Do we as a people see the future and think of our tomorrow and what we leave behind?

When I am in Ghana and see

- the dirty streets in even areas where people have invested money to build large houses such as East Legon, with

- greedy leadership unwilling to allow locals to manage themselves and clean their own neighbourhoods,

- the open gutters generating mosquitoes that cause malaria and diseases that are killing our people!

- exposed soil and dirt!

- evil corruption and misfit arrogant leadership unable to manage even water and electricity distribution for our people and businesses,

There is no doubt in my mind that we are not ready to be a nation with a common destiny to protect ourselves and each other to do the right thing for all to enjoy a modern civilized life!

No! No! No!

We are so sad as a people in Ghana and we need to be humble before the God we claim to worship and allow help from our people who can help us! Our elected and appointed officials need to learn humility and stop the nonsense of calling themselves Honourable and Excellencies and take the job of being MP, DCE, Assemblyman or even President as a representative job of SERVICE to OTHERS and NATION and not achieve wealth of fame and gold chains!

The years of post-Independence has provided Ghanaians the opportunity to travel, study and live overseas! We have no more excuses saved for the envy, jealousy and evil that prevents our leaders from seeing resources and they deceiving themselves and the people they serve. At the end the people also have to take blame! For as somebody once said, their destiny is in themselves and not in their stars!