Another sexual predator has been unmasked in Ghana, and as usual, Ghanaians are at it again.
Gritting our teeth, banging our fists on tables, swearing, “Never again”, we are collectively (all of us, it seems) demanding death for the offender.
Why are we acting shocked? Didn’t we see this coming?
The Ghanaian paradox is that we never cease to express concern about the moral decline in society, yet few are willing to take the first step towards reversing it.
And so, we continue to create the monster, only to turn around and lament that it is devouring us.
The irony is that while morality cannot be legislated, we are all victims of immorality.
Parents, for instance, now live with the anxiety of deciding where they can safely send their girl-children, reflecting the growing erosion of trust and moral responsibility in society.
The late guitar band maestro, Senior Eddie Donkor, asked poignantly in one of his songs, “Na who cause am?”
For example, which Ghanaian government in the Fourth Republic, while campaigning to come to power, ever spared space in its manifesto for a morality war?
On July 10, 2025, Professor Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, delivered an inaugural lecture at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana.
I am still searching for the money to pay for a full broadcast of the lecture.
If I had it, I would gladly do so.
His diagnosis was “collective moral failure”. Hear him: “Corruption in Ghana is not the work of a few rogue individuals. It is a system-wide ethical collapse.”
To buttress his argument, he cited everyday examples of this moral decay, including bribery to secure school placements, the inflation of public contract sums and the neglect of public cemeteries.
Prof. Bawole called for a national ethical transformation beginning with civic re-education from the basic level to the university, using case-based methods and traditional Ghanaian proverbs to reinforce values.
One recommendation of his, which will NEVER be implemented, is INTEGRITY AUDITS as a requirement for public sector promotions.
Another is MANDATORY ETHICS TRAINING FOR ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
The Professor shared his personal commitment to ethical leadership, stating that during his tenure as Dean, he adopted a strict no-gift policy and redirected potential benefits to student support funds.
“If I had joined the 10 per cent game on our new lecture hall complex, I would be 20 million cedis richer. I chose the high road and so can we all.”
Powerful. What a mind! Yet where do all these volumes of recommendations go?
Now, come to Obuasi STHS and matters arising. I am not, in any way, justifying the acts of sexual predators in schools.
Reprehensible as the headmaster’s case is, and hard as we must descend on sexual offenders against our girl-children, we must also listen to the suggestion of a certain wise man thus: “While counselling the cat against stealing of rotten fish, we must also spare a word for the rotten fish itself”.
Too often, the stench of the rotten fish is too inviting.
What are we exposing our children to? Beauty pageants.
There is a “Miss So-and-So” in every school, from pre-school to collegiate.
I bow to Mr Kweku Mensah Bonsu (the original!!!) whose Primetime Limited birthed the Science and Maths Quiz! More of such in other subject areas, please.
Even for pageants, see how Media General has turned the concept around through its ‘Ghana’s Most Beautiful’ TV pageant.
It has broken with the past when beauty contestants were adjudged by how seductive they appeared in bikinis.
‘Ghana’s Most Beautiful’ has redefined beauty, placing more emphasis on brains and pride in cultural awareness.
I applaud Brigitte Dzorgbenuku. After her reign as Miss Ghana 1990, Brigitte has become a prominent advocate for female leadership and women's empowerment.
In 2020, she made national history by running as the presidential candidate for the Progressive People's Party (PPP).
What is my take?
I yield to Prof. Bawole. His advocacy is urgent. He is calling for “INTEGRITY AUDITS as a requirement for public sector promotions and MANDATORY ETHICS TRAINING FOR ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS.” (caps mine)
He also urged the media, faith-based institutions and civil society to publicly highlight stories of honest individuals and make role models of ethical behaviour.
In writing this piece, I am asking myself: how is corruption destructive?
The answer is the moral culture that sustains it.
Where does corruption money go?
Trips abroad to cruise on the Rhine; weekends in multi-million signature penthouse suites or sky villas in Dubai; or acquiring high-rises in Ghana’s airport residential area for girlfriends (never the wife!!!).
Final word is mine: we must insist that every political party that wants to come to power must insert a Moral Clause in their manifestos.
In this Fourth Republic, I have found that it is easy to win an election with ill-acquired money; it is not easy to morally transform a nation.
