Cynicism, mistrust and 'pull him down syndrome' hurting Ghana more than corruption – Palmer Buckle

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, Archbishop Charles Palmer Buckle, says the threat of social disvalues such as cynicism, mistrust and the deliberate attempts to cause each other’s failure has become more serious to Ghana’s development more than the threat that corruption poses to the country.

The Archbishop made this statement whiles speaking at a virtual forum organised by the Office of the Senior Minister to discuss the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and government’s drive to push the nation towards independence from foreign aid.

Describing them as a canker of disvalue, the catholic bishop said they have become deep-rooted in the Ghanaian culture especially within the political circles and has ended up breeding seeds of low self-esteem, disaffection for the country and disaffection of service to the nation.

“There is a canker that I think we need to combat. It is a disvalue which is more insidious than corruption and that evil is called cynicism, mistrust and the notorious Ghanaian PHD syndrome (pull him/her down). It has become deep-rooted in the present-day culture and especially in the political arena.”

He further highlighted what has become the worst part of this development, which he said is the propagation of such things through the use of social media.

“The worst aspect of this vice, unfortunately, is its propagation, advertently or inadvertently by social media which tends to glamourise vice and advertise disvalue at the cost of values and virtues.”
He, therefore, called on the nation to tackle the rise in disvalues through specifically focusing on education on values and virtues as well as presenting role models who are icons of civility and nobility.

He described the need to pursue proper values and virtues as one of the proper ways of truly ensuring a “Ghana Beyond Aid.”