One of our failure as a nation is our inability to win the war against a tiny insect like the mosquito. This insect though fragile and could be crushed at a finger tip has proven to be a formidable force. In spite of the several crusades launched by the ministry of health and other organisations against this vermin it still reins supreme. A whole medical research centre was built at University of Ghana, Legon in an attempt to win the war against the insect yet this beast is still taunting us today. The crusade against this monster has recently been joined by Jo Yirrell the British lady whose son Harry Yirrell died from malaria while working in Ghana as a volunteer. Mrs Yirrell worked tirelessly to send millions of mosquito nets to Ghana to prevent further deaths. The question is why are we struggling to win the war against such a tiny insect?

Well the answer is simple. The more people get infected with the malaria parasite the more some individuals in the society become rich with money, blood money. The more this insect continues drinking blood of our children and pregnant mothers the more some section of the society remains in business. In fact the mosquito has contributed significantly to the growth of certain businesses in the country so such businesses will always welcome the increase in their numbers.

For instance there was this very renowned medical doctor who owned a private clinic somewhere in Accra (name withheld). This doctor for whatever reason became an ardent follower of the rain goddess and prayed all the time for rains. He became a devotee of the rain goddess not because he cared so much about our poor farmers whose livelihood depends on the rains or he owned a maize plantation on the Afram Plains.

This doctor became a devotee because as we all know when it rains it forms stagnant pools on our untarred roads, open drains/fields, garbage dumps etc and breed more mosquitoes. As a result there will be more of the vampire insects floating in the air and feed on the blood of our loved ones and infecting them with the deadly malaria parasite. Knowing how lethal the parasite could be parents will quickly flocked to the clinic of this vampire doctor for a cure. He in turn will add to their misery by draining their systems of the leftover blood in the form of huge medical bills.

This medical doctor may not be the only worshiper of the rain deity that yearns for increase in the mosquito population. The pharmaceutical companies, mosquito net manufacturing companies etc could all be culprits too. A permanent solution to the mosquito menace could spell doom for some of businesses in the country. For instance it could bring a drastic fall in the sale of anti malaria drugs, various herbal medicine tablets, mosquito nets, coils etc. It would also lead to liquidation of some chemist shops, drug stores etc.

What about the Pray –For-Me- Pastors. How could they fund their luxurious lifestyle if the mosquito is eradicated? Vulnerable women will stop trooping to their prayer camps for deliverance from demons. The herbalists, sorcerers, soothsayers etc the list could be endless. How on earth can we win this war when we have and these people fighting on the side of the mosquito at the war front?

Well the loved ones have soon come to realise there is even a more sinister and monstrous beast that drinks more blood than the mosquito. The only difference is that the mosquito knows when to quit but this beast doesn’t. This beast never gets full though it eats with both hands. This beast is the politician. For the past decade it has just been the same trend. After every general election the sitting president dolled out dollars bills to MPs to buy luxury cars under the guise of loans which are never serviced. The MPs in turn approve dodgy loans and contracts deals for the president and his cohorts to buy luxury jets and yachts so they could take their slender thighs on exotic trips abroad.

Some few years ago a loan of $50.000 was been approved for the MPs to buy luxury cars so they could function more efficiently and we all wailed. Well the MPs need these cars to visit their starving constituency members who live below poverty line to play on their intelligence and we complained. It is very vital the MPs ride in $50.000 sleek cars while the children in their constituencies trek long distances under the scorching sun to school in tattered school uniforms. It’s honourable for the MPs to live comfortable and luxurious lives while the people they represent in parliament don’t have any good drinking water or health care system and school children study in death trapped classrooms.

It’s very necessary these human mosquitoes drive in posh Bentleys while some of our children from poor and deprived homes share their sleeping mats with sheep, goats, fowls etc in their homes. This is because there are always not enough sleeping spaces in the single rooms owned by their parents yet their domestic animals need to be protected. The rain is falling and these priced assets can not be left out in the cold to perish. How could the school fees or medical bills be paid if the rains carry these animals away?

The loved ones have come to accept the simple logic that the mosquito insect is part and parcel of them. Probably if Ghana were to be in Europe or America the story will have been different. Their scientists would have wiped out these blood eaters from existence decades ago. In the same vain it is dawning on all of us that the politicians are leeches that are stack to our emaciated skins. They will never let go and we have to learn to live with them. Someone asked this soul searching question the other day and no one answered him. ‘Why do lawyers or was it the failed ones always become politicians’?

Francis Kwaku Kuma

Koforidua Polytechnics

Kwakuhull@yahoo.com