I feel sad
I feel sad that the average Ghanaian is deeply inward-looking, so inward-looking that he or she is more attached to his village or tribe than the country Ghana.
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So inward-looking that he or she will defend his tribesman, with his blood, against the state when the state wants to ensure that the law works;
So inward-looking that as long as it is the state that is being looted, nobody cares;
So inward-looking that he or she would support and vote for a political party solely on the basis of the roots of the party and who the leaders are;
I feel sad that there is virtually no patriotism in this country;
So much so that public servants loot the national coffers to the detriment of the rest of the citizens;
That public servants who are able to loot and become wealthy are celebrated by the society as being 'smart' while the honest and diligent ones who retire on a modest pension are scoffed at;
That we worship wealth so much that people would go to any extent, including foul means, to become rich in order to command respect in the society;
So much so that even 'men of God' have been caught in the 'get-rich-quick-by-whatever-means-possible' phenomenon;
Worst of all, I feel sad that all our actions point to the fact that either we don't love Ghana or we don't love who we are.
For example:
If you really love Ghana, how can you as a top politician travel to the UK or USA to be delivered of your baby to enable it acquire a foreign citizenship while you pretend to work for Ghana?
Or that your entire family is domiciled in another country while you are a top civil servant here in Ghana.
That top public servants and politicians unhesitatingly travel abroad for medical care while neglecting the country's healthcare system;
And that they put their children either in private schools in Ghana or in schools abroad. There's a good reason this shouldn't be tolerated. There's a tendency for public officials to be corrupted when confronted with high expenses. As a private citizen, no one cares.
And I feel sad when the top-most public officials are over-pampered with free accommodation, free furniture, free vehicles (about three) free fuel etc while the lower income earner with a meagre salary has to rent his/her own accommodation and pay for water, electricity and trotro/ taxi;
And even worst still is the fact that we are all guilty;
• Our women (and some men) are bleaching to have fairer skin tones because they don't like who they are
• They wear other people's hair, which source can't be vouched for, to look like whites
• We take pride in letting everyone know how blessed we are to have relatives abroad (see the obituaries).
• Government takes pride in announcing how much remittances from abroad contribute to our economy
• And yet, from Hamile to Axim, we are endowed with vast acres of arable land, minerals, forests etc
• We still cannot provide irrigation for all-year-round farming and as a result have to import food.
I am sad because we've all the top intellectuals in this country who perform admirably in other countries and yet back home, we don't see their input/ contribution.
I am sad because we seem to know all that is wrong with us and what needs to be done to ameliorate our situation and yet nothing seems being done.
I feel sad that those who benefited from the best of education in the past and are now managers of the nation are superintending the depreciation of our educational system.
I feel sad that we've succeeded in making corruption glamorous and the in-thing.
I feel sad that in all the campaign promises, I haven't heard any presidential candidate proffer a solution to our grave sanitation problem.
And I don't hear them proffer solutions to the galamsey menace that is threatening our water bodies when studies indicate that in 5-10 years, we will be starved of drinking water;
I feel sad that all I hear in this political season are insults upon insults and not much of substance.
So what is the solution?
Leadership, leadership, leadership, and visionary leadership. A leader who knows where we need to go.
A leader who is not afraid to crack the whip if his people are not in sync with his vision irrespective of dipping popularity or losing elections.
There can be no other way but fearless, visionary leadership.
I am tired of being sad. I want someone to deliver me from this melancholic feeling.
And how do we get this kind of leader?
This will only happen when we develop to the stage when 80 per cent of Ghanaians will be floating voters; the other 20 per cent can be 10 per cent National Democratic Congress (NDC) and 10 per cent New Patriotic Party (NPP). These die-hard supporters will vote for their parties irrespective of who stands . The 80 per cent floating voters then become the match-makers, those who vote on principle and policies.
Will we ever get there? Is it too much to hope for?
Only time will tell.
