A Free-verse Poem By Kofi Thompson

Like lambs to the slaughter

The sweating masses

Are led on a journey of hope

By air-conditioned silver-tongues

Who know the uses of power

The cleverest wealth creation tool

For Africa's clever ambitious

Who endlessly seek it

With singleness of purpose

For at their tenure's end

With the masses' blessing

Can finally retire

Amongst the continent's wealthiest

Power in Ghana

Sweet for those who wield it!

End of free-verse poem.

The poem above, dear reader, sums up the cynicism with which so many Africans regard the continent's ruling elites - and the disdain with which the politics of their countries' of origin is held.

Luckily, today, Ghana is blessed with a crop of presidential candidates who are not personally corrupt - unlike the present incumbent's immediate predecessor in office.

Though they are not corrupt individuals, such is the insidious nature of our system, that - as we have seen under President Mills - powerful crooks will invariably emerge from within the top echelons of the next new ruling party, to milk our nation dry again.

Like the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mills, were the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) candidate to emerge victorious from the presidential election this December, despite Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo's strictures about corruption under President Mills, and his not being personally corrupt, the tragedy of high-level corruption will be played out under his rule, too, as sure as day follows night. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. Asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa!

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