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Nyeya Yen: In Conversations with My Children and Grandchildren on the Anniversary of My Birthday

By Yen Nyeya
Opinion VIP Bed in Bolgatanga Hospital as above.
MAY 6, 2015 LISTEN
VIP Bed in Bolgatanga Hospital as above.

Last year, my children asked: “Dad what do you want for your birthday”. I was possibly three scores according to my adopted birthday. Though they are grown they still cannot understand how one does not know his/her birthday. When I try to explain that I do not know the day I was born, my wife found me funny since my adopted birthday is my birthday. Well, my answer to my children is: “Hmn do I know what I want. I have been involved for decades of trying to restructure society. It seems it has yet to bear fruit. For present to myself I wrote. “I AM NOBODY SMALL BOY”. It elicited so many positive and few negative comments.

And so, what do I want for my birthday this year. I don't really know. Then my children and grandchildren sat me down to tell them some stories and here is one of them.

Daughter: What do you make of the current political situation? What is happening in Ghana? I understand the government says it will be better, will it be better?

Yen: We are in a dire political situation. This has been compounded by the dumsor phenomenon that makes lights off a continuous problem. Many businesses are suffering. Both the public and private sectors. There are reports of layouts of workers. Certainly unemployment will increase and bring more social problems. The government want Ghanaians to understand the situation and therefore sacrifice a little for the country and better tomorrow. Throughout my three scores and 12 months of existence I have often heard governments calling on its citizens to sacrifice for better tomorrow. However, top politicians and officials who are supervising the state structures are not sacrificing in any way. All of them ride in guzzling consuming V8 vehicles bought by the state for them. The dangerous potholes are music in their ears. There are vast divergences of wage inequalities in Ghana. Top officials in government and parastatals earn up to 30,000 Ghana Cedis a month (about $8,000) a month. Apart from these they have opportunities to engage in massive corruption. Being a board member is a means of extra income. There are some who are in two or more boards and make a killing out of living from them. This is in a country where the minimum wage is less than 200 Ghana Cedis a month if you are lucky enough to get a job. And if you work in a beer bar you could earn as little as 70 Ghana Cedis a month.

Grandson: Why is that so, and can anything be done about it?

Yen: It is so because the various political parties and forces that have been mismanaging Ghana since 1966 are extremely lazy. Various military regimes and political parties are led by the educated elites. Today these elites have constituted the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Those who lead these parties are extremely lazy. They have no ideas of taking the country out of poverty. They take over power and want to maintain the status quo. And that is at the crux of the matter. That is why with any small problem they run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to bail them out. These institutions were not created to make third world countries come out of poverty. They were created for the interest of the dominant capitalist countries led by the United States and European countries. In the situation where we produce what we do not consume what we produce (which is even now under threat with dumsor) and import so much for our basic needs you can expect crises in the entire country. We are a dependent capitalist country. It is not easy getting out of this quagmire. That is why Kwame Nkrumah was overthrow for trying to get us out of the dependency on the UK and the US. But getting out we must. It is the only way out of the economic malaise we are facing now. We know from evidences quoted authoritatively by various scholars that no country that is indebted to others and depend on them can produce enough to feed itself.

Granddaughter: Granddad tell us more of getting of this the deplorable economic situation?

Yen: Yes. It involves a lot of hard work. It involves us not being lazy. It involves a reorientation of the entire political process. It is involves people especially those who care about this country coming together. There are thousands of people in the country who really care about what is happening. This people can be brought together through the formation of a political party. The party must have it goal to ensure that Ghana becomes truly independent. The international situation is quite healthy for alliances with other countries that are determining their own future and building better prospects for their peoples. We must put at the fore, agricultural production to feed our people and industry to support our people and for export. The public must have a clear political programme that must guide its work. The party must be led by conscious people who really care about this country.

Grandson: What makes that party different from the existing parties, especially the NDC and the NPP?

Yen: The NDC and the NPP do not represent the people at all. They ape each other. They belong to different cliques of elites who care for themselves alone. Unfortunately they have infiltrated other parties such as the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP) and the Peoples’ National Congress (PNC) and created so much internal strife that makes these parties difficult to move forward. Sections of the CPP and PNC can be part of a new political formation to move the country forward. Even elements in the NDC and NPP can be part of a new political formation. We are not ruling out anybody. Those that we are ruling out are the greedy and selfish people who only care about themselves.

Daughter: How come that the NDC and NPP are always winning elections? If they are bad as you say why do the people vote for them?

Yen: Yes the NDC and the NPP will keep on replacing themselves in as far as there is no alternative. The two parties have hijacked the political space. With access to looted monies and resources they use it to buy ordinary people who run their parties. Belonging to these parties have become a game and access to crumbs from the dinner table. It requires a conscious effort to move the people away from these parties. If the people find an alternative they will make a change. The fact that they voted against the NDC and there was a change in government and again voted against NPP and there was another change, means the people understand the need for a change. Progressive forces have failed to galvanised themselves into a fighting force to work with ordinary people to salvage this country. In the dire economic situation, people will take money from politicians and vote them and they will continue with the rot.

Grandson: Yes is corruption that really bad and how does it affects Ghana’s development?

Yen: Corruption is very endemic. During our days, there was corruption. I am not denying that. But it was not this open and respected. People were careful in being openly corrupt and will deny that they were involved in corruption. Today those who have been given the opportunity to run the state just loot from what is there under their control. The “better” thieves use the money and build properties or engage in productive things and the worst ones invest the stolen money abroad. Instead of being guardians, they have become the thieves. Take for example the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). There is no way it cannot manage itself. But as we know through overblown claims for treatments and drugs that have not been given it has turned providers into overnight millionaires. The entire nation is now suffering and it is in danger of collapse. It is almost impossible to get any decent drug under the NHIS. There is a two-tier system under the national health. Those who manage the state do not give a damn because they go abroad for their treatment or use expensive private sector. These monies that are appropriated could have gone to providing quality health and educational care for our people. What is stolen cannot be used for development. The politician who takes 10 to 20% on road contracts has done a disservice to the nation. It will be shoddy work and we will be back to square one. We must do what we can to expose corruptions in all its manifestations. The media is doing a great work, especially Manasseh Azure Awuni, but they are very few indeed. It is almost impossible for anybody to get service from the state sector unless you bribe officials. The country is being turned into one gigantic corrupt institution, where corrupt people are respected. They claim people envy them for their wealth. How can you envy the wealth of a thief? It is not easy to take the side of the poor and there are lot of sacrifices that this entails. There are well-intentioned people out there. They are disgusted with what is happening. They may want a way forward but with time things will change. This level of corruption cannot be left to go unchallenged in Ghana forever. It is destroying the moral fabric of our society and will bring it to its knees if left unchecked.

Nephew: So what do you stand for?

Yen: I stand for social justice. I believe that there is enough in this world to go round. I believe that we should enjoy in this world and not wait until we die and enjoy in heaven. What about if we go to hell? We will suffer double. So let us improve our situation on earth first and crown it with heaven when we die. And it is possible to do so with great determination and commitment. It does not mean taking from someone to make us enjoy a better life. There should be opportunities for all of us to find work or engage in productive activities and to improve the society we live it. We have to be adequately compensated for the work we do and live quality lives. It is terrible when it is time for students to go back to their institutions and the stressful situations parents and guardians go through to send their children back to schools. We have to plug the gaps and make it impossible for someone at the Cocoa Marketing Board to have access to our joint resources that belong to us. After all how many rooms and beds can you sleep in the night? How many drinks, meat and food can you eat? It is even dangerous to overeat especially for we those who are celebrating scores of our existences. In the context of Ghana, we must be prepared to die a little so that all of us can live peacefully. Injustice breeds the problems we are going through.

Daughter: Once again. We wish you happy birthday. Do have a rest and let us continue another day.

Yen: I am ready to go on, but I know you young people want to go out. Run off. I will stay and take charge of the house. Nobody will steal it from you. And let talk more often. I am grateful to share my views with you.

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