Corruption today far exceeds June 4 revolt trigger - Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has questioned why Ghanaians tolerate corruption in spite of its manifold negativities on national development and morals.

He says as a nation, we know corruption is killing us in many ways, and he wonders why we tolerate it to the extent of sometimes hailing and idolising the corrupt.

In a statement he issued on the occasion of the 35th Anniversary of the June 4 Uprising, he said only recently Ghana was adjudged the world’s fastest growing economy, and has also been applauded as one of a few to achieve ahead of time, the UN’s MDG of halving poverty, however in spite of all the high accolades, the masses can hardly feel the improvements.

He counselled that if it is the expectation of some that part of the ill-gotten wealth of the corrupt will trickle down to them in some way and, therefore, choose to endorse them, it will never materialise.

But it cannot also continue, for eventually there will be a price to pay for perpetrators and for us who look on in silence.

“Corruption hurts us because it takes out of the public purse scarce resources that could be used to turn our economy into an engine for sustained growth.

“Corruption hurts us because it siphons out of the economy the substantial investment that is needed in the social sector to pay the salaries of doctors, nurses and teachers, build more and better schools and hospitals, and create the physical infrastructure needed to take our nation to a greater level of human and economic development.

“And finally, corruption hurts us because it is destroying the moral fibre of our nation. That was the message of June 4th, 1979. The attack on the moral fibre of Ghanaians was what led to the popular uprising of June 4th," he said.

He said while there are no food shortages because food is plentiful, the desperation that the sustained rise in food prices is creating has resulted in a situation where cheating is becoming the order of the day.