Sam Nartey George — A product of prayer that was answered
Samuel Nartey George is a Ghanaian politician and a member of the National Democratic Congress. In November 2015, he defeated the incumbent E. T. Mensah to represent the party in the 2016 parliamentary elections for the Ningo-Prampram Constituency.
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He went ahead to win the Parliamentary seat to represent his constituency in the 2016 election and retained his seat in the 2020 election as well.
Appearing on the Springboard, Your Virtual University, Mr Nartey, who said he had no intention of going into politics, described himself as a product of a prayer that was answered.
He said seven years into the marriage of his parents and several miscarriages, his mother was left with no other choice than to make a covenant with God to bless her with a son.
“My mum went into a covenant with God and said if he gives her a son, she will call him Samuel. A year later, I was born.”
“My mum made me understand that I was as a result of a covenant and I have an obligation and purpose to God and this imposes a higher burden on me,” he stated.
He said even among his siblings, the highest standards that his parents hold him to, sometimes made him feel like the unwanted one, stating that “things my siblings do and get away with it, I dare not try them”.
He said that influenced the way he grew up as he was literally handed over to the church just like Samuel in the bible and took part in every church activity.
“My life was school and church,” he stated.
Never wanted to be in politics
Mr Nartey noted that growing up, politics was never an option for him as he had initially wanted to be a pilot then later changed to a nuclear physicist.
“Science has always been my thing. I wanted to be a pilot and from there physics and chemistry were subjects I loved and decided to go to the university to study nuclear physics,” he stated.
He said although he got a scholarship to study nuclear physics at the University of Pennsylvania, his parents enrolled him at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), a decision he thinks was a great one for him.
“Life at KNUST was a wonderful experience for me. It was the first time I was on my own and had freedom and decided to get involved in everything. I was engaged with all kinds of entertainment events, started my first company on campus where we were doing event activation for hall weeks,” he pointed out.
He said despite all the social things he did, as a result of the covenant, he never turned his back on God, stating that “I was actively involved in student chaplaincy activities as well”.
No regrets
The legislator mentioned that no matter how things turned out, he had no regrets in life.
“If it turns out good then I have learnt a way to continue doing something, if it turns out wrongly I have learnt a way not to do it so I have no regrets.
“All these various stages of my life allowed me to know a different side of myself. Not all the ventures I went into succeeded but I picked life lessons,” he said.
Going into politics
Mr Nartey said politics was nowhere near his dream although he had friends who were actively engaged in politics.
“I was doing consultancy work for the UNDP and World Bank and for a young boy in his mid-20s, getting US$300,000 a year from these two agencies was big money so I was thinking about getting bigger contracts and moving into the millions,” he stated.
He said a friend of his who was into politics was billed to appear on a morning show but got sick and asked him to sit in.
“After the show, my phone blew up with calls from everywhere and I was asked to join the then Deputy Minister of Information to set up a government communications team and this is how I got myself in politics,” he said.
My ideal Ghana
Mr Nartey also shared five points on what his ideal Ghana would be.
1. Prioritise family; we must prioritise family- that is our culture. There is a new generation of Ghanaians who don’t have the discipline of a father and the love of a mother. The telenovelas people watch often make them give up on marriage when there are challenges.
2. Celebrate hard work; we don’t care about a person working hard because another, possibly doing something illegal, has an expensive car. We are too materialistic and have allowed the subtle indoctrination of movies from external cultures to promote a get-rich-quick orientation.
3. National identity; we must have a national conversation about who we are. My dad often spoke about the values of being a young pioneer. The Ghanaian dream today seems to be a visa politics. That is affecting the quality of politicians. Many people enter office only for what they will get.
4. A generation Z and Z-Plus plan; the Instagram-Snapchat generation is not reading enough. How can they form an analytical culture to lead?
5. The God factor; I want a country where religious authority plays a more serious role in shaping our national discourse.