Ghanaians respect corrupt people - Ismael Yamson

Ghanaians respect corrupt people although their actions inure only to the benefit of their families and close associates, Dr Ishmael Yamson, a former board chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and Chairman of Yamson and Associates, has said.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Wednesday 17 May, Dr Yamson told show host Moro Awudu: “In Ghana, the more corrupt you are, the better person you are. The more corrupt you are, the more respected you are. The more corrupt you are the more offers and opportunities come your way because you can go round, your children will be employed, your family members will be employed.”

Bemoaning the decline in virtue among politicians and public figures placed in offices of authority, he warned that the nation risks an uprising if political figures do not change their selfish desires and work in the supreme interest of the public.

He noted that Ghana was “sitting on a time bomb” as citizens in the nearest future will not sit aloof but vent their anger and frustration at political heads.

Dr Yamson said: “When the changeover of government came, I heard people ask: ‘Why haven’t I got a job? Why haven’t I been given a job? Because I’ve worked hard for the party.’ But you work hard for the party for a specific purpose or you work hard for the party because you were promised something and whether you qualify or not because you’ve worked for the party you must get it? And I think it’s something that the two political parties need to take seriously because they can’t go on like this, it will not last, it just won’t last, because there is so much that unemployed people in the street can take.

“These days, with the slightest problem, there is huge commotion… So we need to understand that we are sitting on a time bomb. So if our politicians will not begin to think like entrepreneurs, will not begin to think selflessly, will not begin to think that we have a country to build and that is not about ourselves, I can tell you that we will just be going round in circles and very soon, maybe, who knows, you will not be able to survive the corruption and the havoc that will follow…”