'Have you ever smelt rotten human flesh?'
When I wrote this article last year originally under the title “Racing Towards Self-Destruction?” I thought the political situation in Ghana was bad. Now it is worse with more dangerous language and violence.
In previous articles, I stated that, let us not destroy Ghana such that, UN peacekeeping troops come to keep peace here like Ghana does, starting in 1961 in Belgian Congo (now DRC).
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To drive home my point in this new article, I have reluctantly chosen the poignant title “Have you ever smelt rotten human flesh?” If you have, like Ghanaian soldiers have in peacekeeping in Rwanda, Cambodia, Lebanon etc, you will never utter words like “Ghana will burn” or “blood will flow!”
Tears
The sight of a losing African presidential candidate shedding tears made me ask why a septuagenarian would cry because he was not elected to serve his country! He wept not for love of country, but because his projections of money, perks and power for himself, family, friends and cronies had gone to another person.
Burning Boys
Videos which circulated on the violence and gruesome killings in that country, including the setting on fire of boys with tyres around them in what is notoriously called “necklacing,” made me question what politicians want.
Dr Samuel Johnson
In 1755, the first English Dictionary written by Dr Samuel Johnson was launched. One quote for which Johnson is remembered is, “The supreme end of education is expert discernment in all things: The power to tell the good from the bad, and the genuine from the counterfeit, but above all, to prefer the good and the genuine to the bad and the counterfeit!”
Do our educated politicians prefer “the good and the genuine to the bad and the counterfeit?” On the contrary, telling lies shamelessly has assumed an industrial scale. One wonders what taking oaths to speak “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” means to them.
Voltaire
The French writer Voltaire said “Man is rational in that he can think, not in that, he thinks.” Positive thinking has been sacrificed for negative selfish considerations! Otherwise, while flaunting pictures of their children attaining degrees in oversea universities, what sense does it make for politicians to send poor young men to commit mayhem in a simple Voter Registration exercise which will lead to death?
Legacy
At the foot of his grave at the Arlington National Cemetery, US President JF Kennedy’s famous dictum is inscribed.
“My dear American, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
For Ghanaian leaders, what do you want to do for Ghana? What legacy do you want to leave, and be remembered for?
For those of us who years ago enjoyed the glory of being Ghanaians overseas, it is sad that political violence in Ghana is gradually becoming the norm.
Alexander The Great
Although he died at 32, the Greek General, Alexander the Great left a legacy for humanity. Before he died, he asked his colleague Generals to do three things. Firstly, he wanted the best physicians in Macedonia to carry his coffin. Secondly, he wanted his open palms outside his coffin. Thirdly, he wanted all the gold he had accumulated through conquest to be spread along the route to the cemetery. Asked why he made such an unusual demand, he explained as follows.
Conclusion
Alexander wanted doctors to carry his coffin to demonstrate that, when death beckons, not even the best doctors can save anyone. Secondly, his wish for his empty palms outside the casket was to remind the living that, we came with nothing, and will go with nothing. Finally, sprinkling the gold he had obtained in conquest was to educate humanity that, all the world’s gold is useless in the face of death!
For politicians who will kill to gain power to acquire wealth for themselves, family and friends, Alexander the Great’s advice comes in very handy. Do not destroy Ghana to satisfy your greed and selfish agenda.
Balance in Nature
Studying outside Ghana in the early 1970s, I was told what a great country I come from. I was educated about Ghanaian brains in the fields of the arts and sciences, with some at NASA sending astronauts to space and back. Professor Allotey’s “Allotey Formalism Theory” attests to this.
So with our brains and the natural resources, what is holding us back from greatness?
For the violence preachers, the smell of rotten human flesh is unpleasant!
Finally, remember that, you were appointed, and not anointed by God to rule Ghana!
Fellow Ghanaians, WAKE UP!
The writer is a former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya and Council Chairman, Family Health University College, Teshie, Accra