"Lazy Ghanaians"

President J.A. Kufuor

The out-going President Kufuor called Ghanaians lazy. The definition of lazy is moving slowly and gently or it is the lack of urgency. So the question is why are Ghanaians or for that matter Africans "Lazy”?

Laziness in scientific terms is the ratio of output to input (effort applied). Why is our productivity low? Can walking 3 miles to fetch water or using the hoe to plough the farm or the machete to weed count as laziness? I guess that is what K4 was talking about.

I mused over this while drowning my usual 'ogogoro' or 'kpεε' as some will call it. This, in a way is freedom. I recall the colonizers putting our mothers in jail for distilling it. They wanted us to drink the imported stuff. In south Africa “them natives' were jailed for drinking the imported stuff. It was all in our favor, to protect us. Perhaps it was the name 'kill me quick' that did the trick.

Well to get back to K4 and his statement, I tried to figure out if Ghanaians were genetically lazy or circumstances contrived to make 'them' lazy. (I use them, as I am not sure if I qualify to be Ghanaian. Some people are better versed in that.

I will wait for their verdict. Reading sometime ago the “road map to success" by Whitt J (Apologies for quoting the Whiteman again. I promise this one is genuine), he was of the opinion that in any endeavor you begin with the end in mind. I repeated it to myself and swallowed a sip of my ogogoro. Of course on a journey you got to decide where you are going and then work out how best to get there. Eureka!! 'Them' Ghanaians need to work on a SMART principle, Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound. So what were our smart plans in the past 8 years? Which direction were 'them' Ghanaians to input their energy? To which music were they to dance to? Now it goes back to leadership. What was the vision of K4? It is the duty of the leader to have a vision and create the right goals, strategic, medium, tactical.

The leader then needs to communicate these ideas for delivery and then prudently influence and inspire others to execute the plan. Organizations and individuals respond to well articulate visions that are strategic, persuasive, and measurable.

As we look to December 28th to complete the new dawn 'them' Ghanaians have the power to choose a leader. Someone with a vision they can all share in someone who is trustworthy, intelligent, and capable of fashioning a new destiny. This “destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved' -W J Bryan.

In this era where there is fluidity and change, Ghana needs a pragmatist, not an ideologue. Ghana needs inclusitivity, not exclusion. Ghana needs to go back to basics of feeding herself before shouting “a property owning society'. A mix of state activity and initiatives while partnering with private initiatives. Is it not madness to expect a person living on less than a dollar a day to expect to own a house?

Sam Walton "a success story" had this said about him; “He was not any more intelligent or talented than a lot of people. He had a simple philosophy, low overheads, high value and total commitment to the customer“. My Hasseltine, an ex minister in M. Thatcher's government applied it to the civil service in the UK.

On December 28, the choice is simple, who is committed to his customers (voters) - Arrogance against humility, discrimination against respect, sexual equality against Gender suppression. The choice is yours.