"Ye Wo Me Eto Sika Mu" and Ghanaian Democracy

I have listened to some respected scholars argue that, some of our present-date political figures were born into wealth, and were wealthy, prior to joining politics. Not only am I stunned by the oversimplification of the term, social class, I lament over the untenable rationalization of theft at the upper tiers of political power, and the classification of ill-acquired wealth as genuine. Judge Kobena Adoe Acquaye would be happy to have these scholars as his advisors to lecture him on how best he could misrepresent witness testimonies, and ignore documents of evidentiary value to sell justice for a buck. Let my nation stay tuned for a full publication of Judge Acquaye’s judgement, and the harm he has caused to the reputation of the nation’s judiciary.

If social class is measured solely on, and by, lawfully acquired wealth, and corporeal acquisitions, then only a fraction of the nation’s politicians, and their benefactors, would fit into this category. One day, the Honurable Eric Amoateng, Appiah-Menkah Jnr, and Andrew Jonah would use the “ye me to sika mu” defence to suppress any legal challenge against their political ambition to becoming the nation’s president. Ghanaian democracy, and the freedom it accords the nation’s rich, to do anything, would make Thomas Paine squirm like a squid, and perhaps opt for Vladimir Putin’s iron-clad democratic system as the best democracy in the world.

I can hardly conceal my sorrow when I hear Ghanaians use subjective methods to define, and measure the social standing(s) of the nation’s politicians. Not only is this method problematic, it justifies, and encourages, our nation’s corrupt politicians to pilfer the nation’s treasury to our detriment. What good reasons do we have to validate a Regional Minister who came into politics with nothing, yet left the government with many foreign bank accounts, and numerous properties of value? How do we justify the behaviour of our politicians who buy mansions in the Western hemisphere with the nation’s money, and shamelessly invoke the “ye wo me tu sika mu” defence? As a nation that is currently experiencing the spasm of acute poverty, how do we sleep, and not reflect on the misery of the many pot-bellied Ghanaian children who may not live to see tomorrow? Couldn’t some of the stolen money be used to bring primary healthcare, and drinkable water, to these children in the countryside? Now is the time to elect a leader who has the vision, and the astuteness, to make a difference in the lives of Ghanaians.

Why do you think that the nation’s leadership has constantly rejected our simple supplication that they declare their assets? Doesn’t the nation’s supreme law, the Constitution, make the declaration of asset a precondition to taking office? The Ghanaian public has failed future generation(s) by not taking advantage of the asset declaration clause, in the constitution, to force our politicians to declare their assets? In my opinion, the nation’s constitution is an inaccessible text, and an elitist document, that cater to the self-serving interests of our politicians, and the financiers of their parties. Our dearest nation is not any better than it was in the 1970s, and now is the time to huddle as one nation, and one people, to ask serious questions.

As the nation evolves, and begin to acquire the frightening face of an indistinct democracy, many Ghanaians are caught, knee-deep, in the furrow of ignorance, and cryptic ululations for corrupt party leaders. Our sense of criticality is only limited to tearing our cyber-adversaries apart, while our political paymasters divert a substantial part of the nation’s wealth into their offshore bank accounts. To my disappointment, we (i.e. citizens) have contributed to the socio-political putrefy in our democratic society by adulating some of the nation’s expert-thieves. Like children, we have discarded our decisive moral stance against the acquisition of ill-gotten wealth, and have instead used primitive attacks to defend an artificial social category that leeches on the nation’s wealth, and see many go into their graves with hardships written on their wrinkled temple.

Can we, really, say that, the nation burgeoning narco-entrepreneurs deserve the title of “din pa ahonya-asikafuo”? Or, are they just a group of thieves who have used their wealth to making our voice become inaudible, frozen our sense of right from wrong, and taking an unjustifiable advantage of Ghanaian hospitality? The creation of new shady businesses in Ghana, and the inefficiency of the state to regulate unnecessary corporate takeovers, by some unprincipled Ghanaian entrepreneurs, and their foreign criminal corporate associates, is terrifying. This toxic virus, if left undiagnosed, and untreatable, will eventually push our dearest nation into the orbit of a failed state amid the contrived excitements of the Golden Age of Business, and Property-Owing Democracy.

What is development to Ghanaians? Do we know the difference between economic development from growth? Do we ever question the attendant dangers that come with offering Nigerian investors unbridled access to the Ghanaian economy without exhaustive vetting? Who is feeding the nation’s violent armed brigands with assault weapons? Is it a shock to you that Ghana has become the number one destination for 419 scammers, credit card fraudsters, and a leading destination for South American narcotics? Why would our nation give Nigeria’s 419 scammers a freehand to own a bank, and Internet café safe-houses, to defraud the world. The influence of these criminals extends beyond the narrow corridors of society, to the criminal justice system. Our nation’s friendship with Obansanjo’s Nigeria has done as more harm than good to our national interest. How do you turn off the political tap, when your party’s nourishment comes from Abuja?

Like their twin-criminal cousins, some Ghanaian businessmen, and women, have many skeletons in their closet. Recently, I was informed by the friend that one could purchase a government letterhead at an Internet operated by a Nigerian at Kwabrenya. The case, I am told, was reported to the police, and no action was taken. When the state liberalized our laws, some Ghanaian narco-entrepreneurs, and their criminal worldwide partners, started to diversify their criminal operations to conceal their criminality. Not only did these narco-business industrialists launder their criminal proceeds into building mega-hair saloons, import and exporting companies, hotels, and farms, they also invested part of their ill-acquired earnings into clothing stores, high-end restaurants, and forex-bureaus.

The liberalization of the Ghanaian economy, and the directives that forex bureaus pay foreign cash transfers in Cedis was a sad mistake. It encouraged some of the nation’s owners of forex-bureaus to import counterfeit money (i.e. Xeroxed Cedis) into the country. A portion of these counterfeit monies were sent to the nation’s banks and exchanged for genuine Cedis. The Dollar-Cedi swap also gave some of the nation’s narco-criminals, who owned forex bureau, the freedom to accumulate foreign currencies to fund their criminal operations. It was therefore not a surprise that, during the arrest of Alhaji Abass, and Kwabena Amaning Tagor, we came to know that they owned a hotel, and a forex bureau, among other dodgy investments.

The idea that citizens should provide the police with proof before arresting criminals is laughable, to say the least. Do the advocates of the “proof stipulation” expect a Ghanaian, who cannot afford three-square meals a day, to buy a digital camera to take pictures of an ongoing crime, knowing that the criminal has political connections? How do expect a citizen to call the police, on the phone, to file a complaint, when the law states that the physical absence of a complainant, in filing a complaint with the police, annuls the complaint?

Under our current democracy, the “Dr-Anane-CHRAJ’s “No-Complainant-No-Case” Clause has made the average Ghanaian to become indifferent to fighting pervasive injustice. They know that some of the nation’s criminals have the wide-ranging support of their political patrons, who would not hesitate to use the resources of the state, and social institutions to extract “a see-no-see,” and “hear-no-hear” submission from the nation’s “me dwene me ho” public. After all, we all know how one of the nation’s convicted cocaine-entrepreneur came back from prison, went to the court to have his seized assets restored to him, and the state compelled by the court to compensate the convict with one billion Cedis. Just imagine what is potentially in store for the person who tipped off authorities on the convict’s dappled cocaine dealings, now that a court has partially honoured his criminality with a big financial restitution. Isn’t our democracy beautiful, and an enable in expanding the “ye wo me tu sika mu” middle-and-upper-class?

Each one of us has a role to play to effect needed changes. As a nation, we can either choose to dance to the lyrics of the new “kronubo kesie,” and “coca-hiplife,” or to bring consciousnesses at the grassroots level to build a cohesive society that has the energy to curtail the official criminality. Those who entertain the thought that today’s corrupt harvests will be enough to sustain them, and their families, for the rest of their life, must rethink their position. Those who see leadership as heaven’s gift for politicians, and as such would not challenge the political leadership, will die without a whimper. Citizens who allow themselves to be used to serve a selfish cause have no one to blame for their wretchedness, but themselves. Change must, and will, come, and it surely will. I wish my nation well, and I hope all is well.

Good day and cheers.

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