Is Ghana A “Shithole”?

Ghana is a great nation, blessed by God with almost all the mineral resources one can think of including; gold, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, oil, and arable land with good weather. This nation is also blessed with wonderful people, many of whom are doing great things in their chosen fields of endeavor. Indeed, the names of some Ghanaians evokes goodwill, honor and respect at the global level.

I remember vividly how in the year 2012, one of my European classmates in our Human Rights class in Oslo, Norway, gasped in awe when I made a point on the conflict situation in Syria and the initial steps Busumuru Kofi Annan as a former UN Secretary General took in an attempt to restore peace to that country and I concluded by saying proudly; “By the way Kofi Annan is a Ghanaian”.

Ghana has been described as a “Beacon of Democracy” to the rest of Africa. It is even described as the “Gateway to Africa”. Ghana is the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence from colonial rule and has inspired and supported other African countries to do same.

Since 1992, when Ghana returned to constitutional rule, it has made several gains thereby setting the country on a trajectory of solid democratic culture, growth and development. Ghana has had seven successful general elections and peaceful transfer of power. Even in 2012, when the election results were disputed culminating in an eight month long election petition hearing at the Supreme Court, the verdict of the Court settled all agitations but, with a call for several electoral reforms.

Ghana has in the last 25years been trying to build strong institutions that are responsive, accountable, transparent, efficient and effective. Separation of Powers, Rule of law, Respect for Human Rights, and Freedom of the Press, among others has seen great improvement.

The Ghanaian hospitality and trade accolades are admirable hence, many countries like the USA, UK, China, India, and the like have huge investments in Ghana. On a daily basis, foreign investors come to Ghana to explore investment opportunities because of the friendly business climate.

Ghana has contributed troops to UN Peace Keeping missions in a number of countries ending civil war and conflicts in these countries and these troops have been described by many as professionals who are on top of their job.

A lot of quality and rich human resource from diverse backgrounds like education, law, engineering, healthcare, security, business, technology, media, and religion, among many others, abound in Ghana.

So with these enviable rave review as outlined in the foregoing discussion, one would wonder why Ghana could be one of the countries labeled as a ‘shithole’. I guess you know by now why I am asking this question.

What is a shithole?
A shithole can be described as a dirty, tattered, unclean, unhygienic, unpleasant and unfriendly place. The word “shithole” has been trending in the last few weeks after President Donald Trump at a meeting with American Congressmen at the White House was alleged to have remarked that the US would no longer accept migrants from countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean because, countries in those regions are “Shitholes”.

Reactions
Following the comments which can be described as undiplomatic, unsavory, insulting, and vulgar, several personalities across the globe have registered their displeasure at the unfortunate comment and even asked President Trump to withdraw the comment and apologize.

In Ghana, the President of the Republic, H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, Former President John Dramani Mahama and other well-meaning Ghanaians expressed their dissatisfaction with the unfortunate comment. Social media was inundated with arguments and counter-arguments on whether the remark by President Trump was justified or not.

Whether President Trump is justified or not, I think those unfortunate remarks should rather challenge us to build a better country and continent. When someone insults or denigrates you, then it is time to add value to yourself and prove the person wrong.

The Challenges
Is it not worrying that in such a beautiful country, State lands in prime areas would be sold for pittance to politicians and their associates at the expense of future state developments?

Is it not curious to note that, there is a whole Ministry for Sanitation and yet the capital city is engulfed in so much filth?

How about the fact that, we elect leaders who are to serve us, yet they end up being served. They take loans to buy V8’s, whereas the people they take the loans from drive in smaller cars. Our leaders drive in very long convoys with some of the cars occupied by only a driver at the expense of the poor tax payer.

Is it not sad that, there is massive youth unemployment to the extent that the Ghana Immigration Service advertises for recruitment for 500 personnel and 87,000 people applied? Out of this number about 57,000 applicants met the minimum requirements and sadly, they were all asked to report at various centres, forming long queues in the hot sun, when they could have been invited in batches. There are hundreds or thousands of graduates some of whom have Masters Degrees who cannot find jobs in Ghana. I dare say that, this situation poses a threat to our national security.

Is it not curious to note that, those who are supposed to protect us are themselves not protected? How can armed persons have the bravado to invade a Police Station, kill an officer and free suspects in Police Cells if these armed persons did not detect a lapse in our security system?

Is it not worrying that Fulani herdsmen for several years have been destroying people’s farms, truncating their livelihood and sometimes killing the farmers when they confront them and yet we all looked on ‘unconcerned’ until the victims and other officials started killing the cattle and suddenly, we woke up and began to talk of rights. Which is more important; human lives or cattle? The Fulani have been asked to relocate their cattle particularly from the Agogo area. But, in my opinion, the problem has only been transported to another part of the country and it is just a matter of time that we will begin to hear about the devastation they will cause.

In some of the public institutions, workers go to work late and sometimes close earlier than the normal closing time. Particularly on Fridays, it appears some public institutions don’t work at all. I recollect how in 2016, I went to renew my Ghanaian Passport at the Passport Office in Accra and after waiting in a queue for more than 4 hours, we were told all the Directors were attending a funeral so our forms could not be endorsed that day. The customer relations of some of the people in these institutions are so abysmal.

Some public institutions lack basic working items like A4 sheets, pens, inks for printing and yet, the Board members of these institutions take fat allowances.

How would you describe a country where after a change of government, vigilante groups go on rampage seizing public toilets, toll booths, public offices and even attack courts and visit mayhem on ordinary citizens with the Security Forces looking on helplessly?

How would you describe a nation where minors can gang rape a girl, film it and share it on social media?

How would you describe a place where those who are supposed to be role models now sexually abuse the people they are supposed to mentor?

Have you visited any public hospital lately? Did you notice the long queues and the challenging conditions under which most health professionals worked? Many hospitals do not have ambulances. Some lacked beds so sometimes, sick persons are discharged pre-maturely to make way for others. Incubators, essential drugs, among others are mostly in short supply. Maternal and child mortality is still prevalent and health care is still expensive. In fact, if you do not have the money, you may die pre-maturely if you happen to fall sick. Our leaders on the other hand travel abroad to seek medical care.

Many basic schools across the country are in a deplorable state. It was not surprising that in early 2017, a basic school collapsed in Breman Jamera in the Central Region killing pupils who were exercising their right to education to the detriment of their right to life. In some schools like, Kulkpong Primary School in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region, pupils sit on the bare floor as they listen to their teachers because of apparent lack of furniture for them to sit on. In some schools like Nyamebekyere Primary in the Eastern Region, pupils study in make-shift structures hampering effective teaching and learning.

How would you describe a country where some workers in Accra can spend close to 3 hours in traffic before getting to work, arriving at the office very exhausted? People who live in Kasoa, Ashaiman, Adenta, Amasaman, Dodowa, and work in the Central business district of Accra grapple with this unfortunate situation on a daily basis.

How about the fact that, some legislators, at least I can count on four different occasions, have alleged that bribery goes on right under their nose in the country’s legislature.

What about that heart wrenching period during Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s exposé when it was evidently clear that some judges take goats, yam, and money to dish out injustice instead of justice? But I was glad at the bold and timely steps taken by the then Chief Justice to restore the admirable status of the judiciary.

How would you describe a country where about 70% percent of the people claim to be Christians and yet corruption is so rife? There is so much religious fanaticism at the expense of spirituality.

Have you realized that sometimes major roads in some of our communities can be blocked for funerals, parties, out-doorings, and the like without any prior notice to the motoring public? Traffic rules are broken everyday with impunity endangering the lives of road users. Many people fix sirens in their four wheel cars and drive carelessly on our roads sometimes in a hurry to nowhere.

People are given permits to build on waterways and yet expect that, there would be no flooding.

Sometimes people with expert knowledge, skills and experience are ignored during recruitment exercises for the less educated, inexperienced and bootlickers.

Many of our roads have become death traps because they are so bad and riddled with what could sometimes be described as “manholes” rather than potholes; increasing travel time and leading to rampant breakdown of vehicles. Sometimes, drivers in an attempt to meander their way around them end up colliding with other on-coming vehicles.

Children of school going age, some persons with disabilities and some aged are regularly seen begging for alms in traffic sometimes putting their lives at risk.

Many of our youth risk their lives travelling through dangerous and unapproved routes to get to Europe and America to seek greener pastures. Many of them die on the Mediterranean Sea or end up being sold into slavery as we heard in Libya recently.

Child trafficking is still real due to poverty.
Our economy which is fundamentally agrarian in nature has not seen ‘much’ investment. We still export most of our agricultural produce in their raw state thereby receiving just a small amount in foreign exchange. We do not have enough storage facilities to store most of our agricultural produce.

Lastly, how would you describe a country where almost everything is seen through partisan lenses? Extreme partisan politics is the order of the day. Indeed, I will always maintain that, politics in itself is not dirty, but many of the players in our part of the world prefer to play politics in a “muddy pool”.

In fact Ghana is currently like George Orwell’s Animal Farm where ‘some animals are more important than others’.

The Way Forward
The foregoing discussion is not meant to deliver a damning verdict on this great nation. But we can’t continue doing the same things and expect different results. We must weed out all ills in our society and expose those who defraud the nation and everybody has a role to play in this regard. Crime must not wear political colors.

Bribery and corruption must be severely punished to serve as a deterrent. The resources that are lost through corruption may be enough to help us develop without foreign aid. The creation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is a noble one but he must be given the room to operate in a professional, unbiased and credible manner. Other public institutions must be well resourced to fight crime, corruption, injustice and the like.

There must be a workable blueprint to arrest the increasing graduate unemployment and unemployment in general, if not, we may be sitting on a time-bomb.

Religious leaders must preach hard work, morality and the like and not only the prosperity message.

To ease the traffic situation in Accra, there must be a massive investment in the rail sector. Trains, Trams, more buses must be acquired to transport people in our cities. The Bus Rapid Transport System must be operationalized. When there are effective bus, train and tram systems, many workers will park their cars at home thereby easing traffic on our roads and productivity will be increased.

Employers must pay workers living wages in order for employees to be able to adequately cater for their families and also retire quite comfortably. Employees must also work and not pretend to work.

Our educational system must be re-designed to teach students how to create jobs upon completion of their studies.

Discipline, integrity, punctuality, honesty, love, patriotism must be embraced and held in high esteem by all.

Furthermore, if we can make any meaningful progress that will stand the test of time, there is the need for a Mental Revolution in Ghana across all strata of Ghanaian society.

Citizens must change their negative attitudes. Politicians and people in authority must also understand that, the power that is entrusted to them is to be used for service so that the lives of the ordinary people can improve. They must therefore eschew all selfish, parochial interests for the interest of the generality of the people. Real power belongs to the people. They only lend it in trust to their leaders for a period.

To all holders of power, I wish to encourage you with this personal quote of mine that:

You have been educated to educate, informed to inform, inspired to inspire, empowered to empower, favoured to favour, motivated to motivate. Once you are entrusted with power, you must commit yourself to making the lives of people better. This, you must do in a positive way even when there are dissenting views from people with narrow, selfish and parochial interests. Whatsoever you do as a ‘holder of power’, you must ‘inspire before you expire’.

The truth is always bitter but it is better to swallow a bitter pill that will cure you of your disease, than continue taking sweet pills that will only provide temporary respite. President Trump’s comments must challenge us as Ghanaians and Africans to build our homeland to an enviable, admirable, desirable and venerable state.

I believe in Ghana and I know that if we all put our shoulders to the wheel, Ghana will be a more beautiful nation to reckon with as far as growth and development is concerned.

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana, and Make Our Nation Great and Strong.

By CLEMENT KADOGBE
The writer is an Author, Human Rights Educator, Public Speaker and an Adjunct Lecturer in Governance and Development

E-mail: clementino2g5@yahoo.com