Corrupt politicians destroying the youth of Ghana

In a primary school, a teacher asked his pupils, “What is the name given to a situation where a person dies by hanging himself or herself?”

“Sir, sir, sir,” the pupils shouted with their hands raised.

The teacher called one of them for an answer; and he said, “Tie and die.”

Utterly disappointed, the teacher shook his head and wondered what the future held for his pupils. One after the other, he asked them what they wanted to be in the future.

One child said he wanted to be a shoe shine boy. When asked why, he said he was always fascinated by the sound shoe shine boys make by hitting their wooden boxes with a stick to attract clients, and that was his motivation.

Another child said she would love to be a “delegate.” Her motivation was that her father was a branch chairman of a ruling party and her uncle a constituency organizer of an opposition party; and that during party and primary elections, his father and uncle received assorted items and huge sums of money as gifts.

As much as this may sound funny, there are serious underlying issues regarding the endemic rot that is destroying our society's very fabric.

The underhand dealings during party conferences to elect officers at the constituency, regional, and national levels are no longer a secret.

For instance, in the recently held NPP Super Delegate Conference, it was alleged that delegates were given GHC100,000 each.

There are more. In some instances, corrupt politicians get funding from rapacious businesspeople who become the power brokers when power is won.

The most disturbing part of this narrative is that our young ones are watching and emulating.

Terrible! I had the shock of my life when I visited a primary school some years ago to see a friend who was a teacher there.

A child who appeared to be from an affluent home was sharing toffees with his schoolmates.

Was he celebrating his birthday? No, I was wrong! There was an impending poll to elect prefects, and apparently, that child was practising what he had observed from adults in his community whenever there was an election. He was buying votes! I cringed!

This marked the instant my life crossed a particular junction of time and space. I'm scared and wondering what the future holds for us as a country.

Little wonder a pupil of a basic school sees a "delegate" as a lucrative career.

God help us!

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