Can "Antoa Nyamaa" Help Avoid Ghana Politics Being Used as the Arena for Making Dubious Wealth?

The phraseology o f "good name is better than riches" is unpropitiously anathema to the Ghanaian politicians who would normally always admire the reverse order of the saying. One can hardly understand when reasoning with most of these Ghanaian politicians who think great wealth is their passbook, passport and visa to the higher Firmament. Wealth making per se is not evil but the fallacious resort to acquiring such great wealth is what bothers any rightful thinking person with their thinking cap on. What melancholia to see the Ghanaian politician measure their success, fame, social status, stature and authority in the society by how much personal ill-gotten wealth they have made?

Although a Christian, may be a fake one, a non practicing one like most Ghanaian Christians, I should like to give it a try any seemingly viable means that can help put the final nail in the coffin of the institutionalized graft in Ghana and Africa. There is a way forward for relieving ourselves of the canker hanging weightily around our necks. But will most of the pharisaic Christians embrace it to help catapult the country into the orbital sphere of middle income status?

It is now their day, for the NDC to implement Rawlings' innermost beliefs of "Antoa Nyamaa". The deity must be consulted not only to exact the truth from defaulting public officials but also to instil sense of public accountability in Ghanaians who may be called upon to serve the nation in higher positions. This is supposedly the view of Mr. Rawlings if I am not mistaken. Dude, I do agree with him 100 percent. My previously published articles on Ghanaweb.com on 11/06/05 and 01/09/05 of which I received condemnation from many a supposed true but actually carnally minded Christians, shared my explicit views on such a consultation.

God Almighty is such a slow to anger the Deity. Human beings, especially Ghanaians, have taken undue advantage of this unique quality of His to flaunt His requirements of humankind. But will Antoa Nyamaa if it's still awesome, tolerate such abuses without inflicting inexpressible punishment on those reneging on their avowed promises to be of good behaviour when called upon to serve the nation in whichever position? If Mr. Rawlings had actually meant and still means his belief of the "Antoa Nyamaa" or other deities of equal standing, now is the opportune time to manifest it. Don't wait for them to plunder the nation's coffers before w e frogmarch them to Nsawam prisons, it will be too late by then and the harm done to the nation may be irreversible. "Prevention is better than cure". Can a means be found to compel all those taking on government appointments to swear to the most powerful deity who will not hesitate to kill or maim any of them who goes against their vow to serve the nation in utmost honesty?

The policy of "causing financial loss to the State" as unfortunately partially instituted by the outgoing NPP government can also supplement the efforts of "Nana Antoa Nyamaa" to curb the waywardness of most of our Ghanaian politicians. Once they become aware that they can be incarcerated for any financial misdemeanour, they will behave themselves. The net should have spread wider to catch any corrupt politician irrespective of their political affiliation but sorrowfully partially, it fell far too short to expectation. That policy if aggrandized and enforced, will subdue the animalistic urge in most people especially our politicians, to embezzle public funds. This should not be seen to misinterpret as political witch-hunt. No, it's not.

Finally, the most feasible effective weapon though never to happen anyway, would have been a civil revolution. The type of the ancient time French revolution that uprooted the disputatious elements from the society will be more than welcome but very unfortunately, it can never happen in this modern day and age. Until laws are respected in Africa in general and Ghana in particular, as being no respecter of persons, the deplorable attitudes of our politicians will plunge us into a quagmire of financial indebtedness. They will continue to steal to deposit our limited hard earned currency in off-shore banks.

The late President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, once said, and I quote, "Every great nation was built on the sweat and the blood of its people". At times when the altruist gets so frustrated, he or she begins rethinking the popular saying, "If you cannot beat them, you join them"

Cry, oh my beloved country.

Shalom, Shalom and Shalom.

Rockson Adofo, London