Arise Ghana Youth, A Call Beyond Complaints

When the conversation turns to corruption, many are quick to point fingers at politicians. Their abuse of office is real and damaging, but I must speak truthfully: citizens are often just as guilty, if not more so. Corruption in Ghana is not simply a matter of “leaders versus the people”; it is a web where both sides are entangled, feeding off each other.

Citizens pay bribes for services they should rightfully access, offer “speed money” to bypass bureaucracy, and rely on “protocol” connections to secure jobs or favors. Businesses push “access money” into the hands of officials to gain privileges and contracts. Every coin exchanged in the shadows fuels the same fire we condemn. As the proverb says, “The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.”

This is why I insist: corruption is a shared responsibility. Politicians exploit, yes, but ordinary citizens enable. Every bribe given, every shortcut taken, every silence kept makes us co-authors of the decay. If no one paid, officials would lose leverage. If no one sought favors, nepotism would starve. If no one stayed quiet, exploitation would be confronted. The truth is simple: we are not only victims of corruption—we are its drivers.

What alarms me most is that the youth, once the promise of renewal, are now increasingly prone to this same culture of shortcuts and compromise. The future is being mortgaged before it is even built. A society where the young normalize corruption will grow into a nation where integrity is alien. “If the young trees are bent, the forest will grow crooked.”

And yet, all is not lost. Cycles can be broken. The destiny of Ghana rests not only in the Legislative body or Executive Branch but also in the daily decisions of its citizens. Each honest refusal, each insistence on fairness, each act of courage weakens corruption’s roots. As our elders say, “When the drumbeat changes, the dancers must also change their steps.”

This is where I call directly to the youth. You must rise—not only in complaint but in conduct. You must lead by example, showing that integrity is not weakness, that fairness is not foolishness, and that service is nobler than selfishness. We are heirs of those who once rallied under the banner of independence, when young men and women, though poor, built schools, tilled farms, and carried the dream of a nation with pride.

What excuse do we have now?
I cannot forget the anthem that once stirred our hearts: “Arise, Ghana youth for your country, the nation demands your devotion.” Where has that call gone? Today, its echo is almost non-existent, drowned by greed and cynicism. But the demand is unchanged—Ghana still needs her youth, not only to complain, but to act; not only to speak, but to live out the change.

If the youth of Ghana rise with courage, integrity, and sacrifice, we can still turn the tide. If they do not, then history will record them as the generation that betrayed its own future.

Arise Ghana youth for your country—the nation demands your devotion.

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