Corruption & Xmas

Corruption has managed to maintain its regrettable position on the public chart even as the curtains are about to be drawn over a parting year and a New Year beckons.

Tomorrow is Xmas and the old ways of corruption and open thievery of the public purse remain features of governance.

There is no place for back-patting when the cankerworm maintains such smelly consistency throughout the year; more so when the President is in no mood to withdraw the oxygen that has kept the governance absurdity kicking.

With the President deliberately turning his attention away from the many opportunities which rear their heads for him to prove his sincerity in fighting corruption, our mistrust for him can only get entrenched.

Yesterday our lead story was on the emergence of impeccable evidence about Afriyie-Ankrah in a suspected GH¢280,000 scandal. He was earlier shuffled from the Sports Ministry to the Presidency, musical fashion style, following a suspected World Cup scandal which should have seen him vacate his post. Under a President Mahama administration that cannot be.

That is how much the President can stand by his appointees, regardless of the magnitude of their misdeeds in office. We are not making this up; empirical evidence abounds to buttress our conclusion.

There is no reason why a suspected case of financial scandal against an appointee should not earn them an interdiction in consonance with the norm in civilised societies and where good governance prevails.

The noveau riche politicians in government have triggered probing questions about the commitment of young Ghanaians from our tertiary institutions to   the cause of development. The litany of abysmal performance on the part of this crop of Ghanaians holding key positions is long and household knowledge, casting a shadow over the much held position that young persons can make positive changes.

What better time to reflect over the rate of corruption in the country than Xmas. As we make merry or pretend to do so, let us start finding out individually the effect of corruption on the fortunes of the country.

Perhaps when we do so, we would have embarked upon the journey to the land bereft of corruption. Even as we bask in the unusual quantum of corruption, we should not lose sight of the source of it all and why a new template is needed to change things for the country.

Merry Xmas.