Ghana, like her other sister African countries is lagging immensely behind in emancipatory evolution. The ghastly inferiority complexities identified with, impacting negatively on the Blackman, has compelled Ghanaians and their wider black fellows to self-subjugate to whatever are the Whiteman's propositions and prescriptions; be they social, economic, or political.
How can a country or people without self-confidence in their traditional values and beings, ever stand up and be counted as rational contemporaries? We have for far too long kowtowed to, and looked up to the White contemporaries for inspiration in everything that makes life worth emulating and living for as human beings, in utter disregard for our own God-bestowed values. We are like a people or a country without firm rock-like foundation but established on slippery, muddy-meandering ground hence, wobbling on our feet in every facet of our life.
Our attitudinal lack of initiation is very worrying. We have for far too long taken aimlessly as people without brains, after the Whiteman's culture in which we often find ourselves as misfits standing on frail quaking legs. To be stronger and be accorded any respect, we need to behave as human beings able to think out our own workable systems rather than to always be dictated to, shamelessly appearing overzealous in our attempts even to out-do the very authors of whatever appealing foreign propositions and systems we take after. Sorrowfully, we always look up to be spoon-fed like toddlers by our White neighbour, continually waiting on them for succour and solace...
From the obvious prescriptions by the World Bank and the IMF, one could see that bitter concoction is often forced down the throat of gullible Ghanaians or in general, the recipients, always worsening their already frightful plight yet clueless as we are, we have not anticipated, let alone, devised our own local solutions to our own peculiar problems. What a type of people?
Cultures and traditions are the impetus and the basis for any dynamic and sound political practice. The non consideration and the utter disregard for the incorporation of ones culture and traditions into any prospective search of a workable system of politics for a race, a nation or a group of people, have always culminated in chaotic situations for the unsuspected nations or people concerned.
Ghana has become a victim of her own negligence by taking after foreign systems without the least reflection on the background and character of her children. Ghanaians are of the habit of taking the entire arm when offered a finger. A vivid example is our current attitude as magnified under the ongoing democratic dispensation of the rule of law and good governance. The attendant opportunities of freedoms of, speech, association, worship, ownership of property, just to mention a few, as offered Ghanaians in a means to moving the country forward where individuals are supposed to come out with their best without any intimidation, sifting through which will culminate in finding best solutions to our problems, are not only being misused but scandalously abused. Is this system then good and capable of bringing about anything good to better the lives of the majority of Ghanaians, one may ask? Your guess is as good as mine. Our supposed men of God have become thieves, womanisers and profane; our custodians and interpreters of the law are stinking corrupt; our law makers are jokers, flouting their own laws, walking out of Parliament on flimsy excuses depicting utter Blackman's stupidity and black mentality; our Executive branch of government groping in darkness and completely lost in the effective applications of our sought-after foreign political systems, scratching their heads in disbelieve, are nothing good to write home about.
The way forward for Ghana is to evolve a political system that takes into consideration the foolhardy of the blackness of our mentality, requiring a reciprocal stringent approach to our lackadaisical selfishly callous unproductive attitude.
A multi-party system in principle is good but in practice, it has woefully failed us, yielding not the envisaged desirable results but rather, antagonism among parties; each trying to pull the other down regardless of their attempted efforts in the right direction, if ever they do. In many a case have uncompleted projects initiated by purported enemy party, according to the warped understanding of the Ghanaian politician where a rival political party is so viewed, been abandoned, when the party is overthrown or loses election, in spite of the would-have been immense benefit of the project to the nation were it completed. How many projects are not subjected to this fate in Ghana, laying waste, causing financial loss to the State?
Political party members are often found to rally behind their colleagues and government even if those involved are guilty and the very act of flinging their weight behind such colleagues is seen as political incorrectness, disaster and or stupid. To curtail the political immaturity, insensitiveness and wastage, I suggest as following:
* All political parties in Ghana must be disbanded; with a new constitution written to give rise to people being elected to Parliament, contesting as individuals in their own right in their various constituencies. This will permit the constituents to elect selfless qualified persons to serve or represent them without the current deplorable party influence indirectly or directly obliging courtship in a specific direction, with the attendant tin god worshipping of their founders by obligation or otherwise.
* Individuals should contest for the presidency of the nation in their merit without any strong party support. This will help us get a better person overflowing with achievable vision to steer the nation out of her perpetual poverty, indirect socio-politico-economic enslavement. Our current crop of leaders falls far short of expectation if Ghana was to emerge as any force to reckon with.
* The nation's constitution should spell out in bold characters, our aspirations, aims and objectives with assigned time tags for their achievement; failure to achieve which within a specified time frame, makes us a failure in that particular dream.
* There should be by obligation, the continuity of projects started by an outgoing Parliament or government, to curtail wastage where uncompleted projects initiated by predecessor governments are completely abandoned with the usual Ghanaian evil intention of not helping the other person clothe in glory or taking credit for whatever. This will help eliminate or reduce unnecessary financial losses to the State.
*Institutionalized corruption within the government, the killer disease of development in Ghana, will either disappear or minimize, as there will not be the usual corporate support given by party members to encourage and perpetuate such acts. Vivid examples are where the President of Ghana at present refuses to acknowledge corruption within his government and in Ghana, blaming any such claim as a perception in people's mind; the NDC rallying support to seek the release of their jailed MP colleague for corrupt transactions incurring losses to the State. In a non party State, individuals can be squarely held to account and so help to reduce the very ills holding back our development.
* A Union government type as once proposed by the former late President I. K. Acheampong can hold some secrets to our development, deducing from my views as read above.
* Ghana needs visionary, well focused, fair but firm leaders, to lead the nation until such time that it becomes a developed or a newly developed nation that we can revert to multi-party system. The current failure of multi-party system to address our problems and needs is very well imputed to our blackness of character; corruption, embezzlement of public funds, lack of concretized aims, non chalance and mere "pull him down" callousness.
Until Ghana develops, Ghanaians need a correcting cane but not carrots. We need a bit of a strict system of government but not the current type which is being abused by every Tom, Dick and Harry to our own detriment.
I welcome all your forward ever suggestive contributions, the means to moving Ghana forward." How does Ghana reverse the backward ever into forward ever gear"? The answer lays in our change of attitude, from negative to positive.
Long live Ghana, long live Ghanaians.
Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.
