Weep not mother Ghana

People in positions of influence don't take time and care to think through the consequences of their actions and it's also a question of failing to fully think through the ramifications of what they are doing.

A sin or wrongful act against the state that is punishable in some countries by going to prison is considered very frivolous in Ghana.As we all know good behavior is rewarded and bad behaviour is punished but in case of the later, the offender gets a tap on the shoulder for a " job well done".

The Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Kwamena Bartels has been implicated in a serious scandal involving favouring his cronies in the NPP government. This man has "maybe" used the nations money to sponsor telephone facilities and internet broadband services procured by the government with the peoples tax money to some party stalwarts to the tune of 36 billion Cedis. His only reason is to help disseminate government policies and programmes which I think benefits only those members of the ruling party.The case was made worse when the minister said the names of the two journalists which appeared on the sheet of the beneficiaries was an oversight.

An oversight?.

If an ordinary clerk had added one zero to the figures he was presenting to the head office for money, that would have been a bigger offence with five years in jail starring him in the face. This is really laughable and his behaviour is on the verge of bizarre.He has been doing a lot of talks to exonerate himself from this blame but has forgotten that either way you cut a cake it's still a cake. I want to know if the government has an Auditor General who checks on the various ministries financially. What would this amount of money do at our Universities,hospitals or roads which are all in shambles.?Ghanaians are being told that whoever wants a good life should disown his/her family and follow the party in power and after some years that person would be rewarded hansomely and into the bargain would be smiling all the way to the bank.If that is the case then every ghanaian holding the country's passport should be rewarded for being patriotic.

Is there any difference between what is happening in Ghana and what is happening in the US involving some of the Republican top men Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham and Tom Delay?. Some of them are languishing in prison whilst one of them is awaiting trial with plenty more loosing their seats in the Congress or Senate. If "wilfully causing financial loss" to the country is a bigger crime internationally,then some people in Ghana should have been in prison.

Dr Wereko Brobbey, Dr Anane and Bamba to mention a few. Forget about which side of the political spectrum you are, the truth should be very important as corruption is very pandemic among politicians in Ghana. This is what happens when there is a weak and spineless opposition.Our lapdog media keep obediently delivering the message that black is white for any administration that comes to power and goes further to present a more optimistic picture of the situation in the country than has ben justified by reports from the outside world which to me is a very serious journalistic betrayal.Whenever Rawlings or anybody talks about this corruption, a state of emergency is declared and these people are often seen or branded as traitors.

Mr Mac Manu the chairman of NPP said the other day that NPP is the biggest and well organised political party in Africa. This man is entitled to his twisted views or opinions. Yes, well organised in terms of corruption, nepotism or drugs. NPP followers going to contest for the presidencial candidacy are 17 with 8 cabinet ministers. The amount to file is pegged at 500 miilion cedis not to talk about the amount of money that would be involved in the campaign.Where did they get the money from?. Your guess is as good as mine.It is now a well known fact that the report card of Ghana on corruption is very bad and we have become too well known as a nation of cheaters and liars yet these same people brag about how good the country is when the bread and butter issues affecting the people are ignored or unfulfilled.Ghanaians are tired of paying dearly to be successful. They are tired of being penalized for thinking as individuals. They are tired of keeping politicians in office who are in-competent and consistently betray the ghanaian values and traditions.They should instead think about who sent them to parliament and why.Great leadership is not about the ability to fool the masses or control the minds of the populous but rather about the ability to represent the people to have values, convictions, liberty etc. The president who always wants allegations to be substantiated is acting like a lame duck.He should be resolute on some of his people who step out of line.The in-coming speaker of congress in the US said her first option is to "drain the swamp"the Republicans have created.If president Kuffour thinks this corruption swamp was created or started by NDC he should drain that of NPP just to set them on a different pedestal for it really stinks.

The NPP party need to keep their noses clean and fix any ethical problems because the party sounded the holy horns of piety early and after taking control but in reality they have continued from where their predecessors left off.

My dear country Ghana has become so bankrupt that it's leaders appear as little more than stockholders of a once great company, driven into shame by corruption and ideals that counter the very reason they became successful in winning the two elections.The same hubristic attitude that brought NDC down is going to bring NPP down if truth and justice are not followed.(Axis of arrogance) If the country is to change from a land often ruled by crooks then we must send the right people to do the job. Forget about parties. This is a battle about redoing previous mistakes and sending our best generals so that we may all win the battle ahead.I hope the next election should not be about partisan politics but rather a firm statement to the Castle that something is wrong in the eyes of ghanaians.The government must not forget that the chances of holding onto power depends more on national events than on campaign talk.

The question I pose to all Ghanaians is "Will there be an end to the pratfalls in Ghana".?

Seth Bonsu (Denver-USA)

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.