Human Rights Activist:Ghana needs mental revolution

Human rights activist, Clement Kadogbe, is advocating a radical overhaul in the thinking of Ghanaians as a way to fight extreme power abuse and corruption.

He warns endemic corruption within government and security agencies could plunge the country into chaos if nothing is done to purge the system of such canker.

“It [Ghana] would be a state of anarchy if measures are not put in place. Why should a nation endowed with natural resources continue to wallop in poverty whilst few of our leaders continually abuse power bestowed on them” He quizzed.

Mr. Kadogbe says the latest corruption expose by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, provides the Judiciary opportunity to put its house in order.

The Executive Director of Human Rights Education, an NGO, however, believes the moral fabric of Ghanaians and their leaders need to change.

“Corruption is so ripe in the country and it’s all because people feel once they’ve been given the power, they have to be rich before it is taken from them. We have issues of human rights abuses. If people can understand they can still enforce the law without being brutish, we would be getting somewhere but people think once they’ve given the gun, they can shoot to kill”. Worried Mr. Kadogbe lamented.

He predicts growing public mistrust against sensitive state agencies and personnel who abuse their authority is a clear indication of dangerous and gloom ahead of the country.

The former President of the International Students Union in Norway predicts total breakdown of rule of law if measures are not put in place to tackle the rot in society.

“People now resort to instant justice which people now want to report their cases at the radio stations rather going to the police. Why is it so because they do not generally trust the police. People do not trust the judicial system”. He said.

Mr. Kadogbe will launch a 165 page-book he has authored titled, “The Corridors of Power” on October 3, 2015.

The human rights educator holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Oslo in Norway.

He explicitly touches on how an undercover journalist born in a country[Ghana] endowed with natural resources and yet struggles with development investigate what really happens within the corridors of power.

The book throws more light on how power; a hotly-sought commodity is abused in across all social fabrics with impunity under the watch of offialdom but at the blind sight of the ordinary citizenry.

According to Mr. Kadogbe, Ghana is on the verge of reaching a state of anarchy if immediate steps are not taken to address the myriad of issues affecting it.

Story by Ghana/Nhyira Fm/Ohemeng Tawiah