‘Ghana, our beloved country, is free forever,’ is the famous statement of our deliverer from forced slavery and our first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Ghana is indeed free: Free to make our choices, Free to vote, live in Ghana or migrate or free to eat. As individuals, we are free, but is our beloved country free forever? How free are we in deciding who becomes our leader?

Ghana has almost become a two-party state, either NDC or NPP. This has been the trend since we embraced the fourth republic. Therefore, the delegates choose the likely leaders from the NPP or the NDC.

In 2012, a president emerged from the family of NDC to rule the country. The people saw hardship, poor leadership, and widespread perceived corruption. The nation cried, people wailed, and raining insults on the administration was the order of the day until even the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey cried out, “Ayansafoo no wo hen?” To wit, where are the wise? This led to a massive vote against the ruling NDC, never recorded in history.

In 2016, our hope was restored as we believed wise men were in leadership. They started well to vindicate our stance. There were pockets of perceived corruption scandals against them, but compared to the pain we suffered under the then NDC government, the people could not complain much but enjoyed the successes of the incumbent NPP government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

However, as time passed, the good we saw was threatened by failure, and perceived corruption went into the ascendency. The Special Prosecutor, who gave hope to the people upon his appointment, resigned, and the Auditor General, who is known to fight corruption, was made to proceed on leave. This was a massive blow in support of the perceived unwillingness of the government to fight crime.

This led to the decline of votes for the incumbent as he was keenly contested not by the action of the opposition party’s flagbearer but due to the disappointment of some sections of the people. Many would have punished the president but for his strategic way of managing the Covid-19 pandemic, acclaimed popularly as ‘Fellow Ghanaians’.

The people would instead vent their anger on the parliamentarians. As a result, many incumbent MPs lost their seats, leading to an almost hung parliament in the 2nd term of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

His second term, beginning in 2021, faced the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economy and its fundamentals have been affected; uncontrollable fuel price spikes, food instability, massive inflation, and currency depreciation, among others, exposed the government. Amidst this challenge is the reincarnation of the unchecked perceived corruption in his first term.

Though there is a global crisis, the people believe our suffering is due to rampant corruption and are unwilling to forgive the government. Things have gone from bad to worse as what the government in opposition vowed not to attempt is the government's option now. For instance, the government in opposition promised to eliminate nuisance taxes, but now E-levy is the order of the day.

The government in opposition bashed the incumbent for their going for support from the IMF, claiming it is a lack of competence on their part, but today, they have pushed the country again to IMF. Is this also incompetence?

Prices of food on the market are galloping; essential commodities are having the taste of above 30% inflation. Where do we stand? The president once said while in opposition, in Twi, ‘yete Sika so, nanso okom de yen,’ to wit, we are sitting on wealth (Gold, diamond, bauxite, rivers, fertile lands, among others), but we are hungry.

This gave Ghanaians hope, and the usual agenda, ‘Ghana beyond Aid,’ was the icing on our hearts. People now believe factually that politicians are liars and politicians are not leaders.

The dilemma of the people now is, 'Who is next?' The NDC or the NPP?

People now know NDC and their potential flag bearer, John Dramani Mahama of 2016, who once said that Ghanaians have a short memory; hence we may have forgotten the hardship and perceived corruption under his watch. Have you?

People are now tired of the entire NPP fraternity, a party that claimed to have the men but couldn’t live up to our expectations and their promises. It is fresh on our minds, and people do not want anything to do with them.

The NDC and NPP have done their worse; where else can we go? Who is next on the bill that can be trusted? Will it still be politicians here? What hope do we have? Are we genuinely ‘free forever’? The people are now silent and are lost in their thoughts going into 2024, whether to vote or to stay at home for politicians to make their own decisions, food for thought.