Fixing or flawing the country?

"Today I did my share in building the nation;…Ah the pains we suffer in building the nation!" - (Christopher Henry Muwanga Barlow, 2000).

Building Africa politically, academically, economically, financially, and religiously must be the responsibility of Africans. In building Africa, particularly, fixing a country like Ghana, all the self-seeking citizens, sycophants, fake prophets/pastors and politicians must turn over a new leaf and stop pinpointing a particular leader to fix the country. Are the Members of Parliament taking decisions that are life-transforming or detrimental to the citizenry? Is it possible, for the MPs to turn down a vehicle loan purchase agreement for $28 million that the Minister for Finance has just presented to Parliament? Is it even appropriate for Ghana to continue depending on loans? Are we fixing or flawing the country?

Is fixing the country the sole responsibility of the government or the masses? Is it the sole responsibility of the President of the Republic and his entourage or a collective responsibility? This write-up aims at discussing how some people are building or fixing the country and the way forward.

Recently, a family member narrated to me how some market women in the country produce ground red pepper (powdered pepper) for people to buy and consume. According to her, after grinding some original pepper, they mix the pepper with red (colour) so as to make the whole adulterated or artificial pepper seems ground real pepper for consumption. In other words, these women add some seeds that might not be the normal pepper seeds with the intention of producing pepper in abundance. As the seeds might not be the real pepper seeds, the improvised ground pepper becomes white and this compels these market women to mix the seeds with anything red so as to come by the colour of ground red pepper. What a deception! Are these market women fixing or flawing the country? Investigative journalists must visit these market women.

Is this kind of artificial pepper safe for consumption? Are these market women fixing or flawing the country? Who is supposed to fix some of these market women’s issues?

Another instance of how people are fixing or flawing the country is how scrap dealers deceive those who weigh their items by putting stones into empty milk tins. Some scrap dealers put stones into all the empty milk tins gathered so as to get more money when their tins are weighed by a scale owner. Are they fixing or flawing the country?

Moreover, an interesting way that some wives are fixing or flawing the country is to inform the head teachers of schools where their children go to school to intentionally increase the school fees of their children so that they will extort money from their own husbands. According to a headmistress of a private school in Accra, a mother removed her child from the school because when she was asked to increase the school fees, she turned down the request of this sakawa wife. Who should fix the country?

Again, it is a common practice that some public workers demand something from their clients either before shouldering their responsibilities or just after doing so. For instance, some expressions like, “I will drink malt”, “I have to buy some data”, “You must buy fuel”, “Can you get me lunch?” ,“Today is Friday ooo”, “You must bring an envelope” etc are rampant among some officers. Can we fix the country when people everywhere are swimming in bribery and corruption?

Some religious leaders even take bribes or compel members of the Church to pay some money before they are prayed for. Have you ever attended a Church service where the man/woman of God will ask Church members to sow a seed before their prayer requests will be granted? What a Christian deviation! It is clear from the available evidence that a lot of pastors do not preach repentance, holiness and eschatological messages, but all their focus is on material/financial prosperity as well as amassing wealth. Are these preachers/pastors helping to fix or flaw the country or pursuing personal aggrandizement?

What about politicians? Do we really have selfless and philanthropic politicians in Ghana? Mr/Madam Minister of State, are you self-seeking or selfless? It seems a lot of politicians are not thinking people. Unless all politicians in Africa, especially, in Ghana repent or change and become philanthropic politicians, fixing the country will forever be a mirage.

What is the way forward?

There is nothing wrong with some Ghanaians calling for better living conditions, particularly, asking the government to fix the unemployment problem, the educational system, the erratic power supply, poor medical care, etc, but what is not acceptable is to opt for demonstrations or go to the streets and social media to inform the whole world that Ghanaians are suffering and starving. Apostle Dr Michael Ntumy once said, “Many demonstrations often end in mayhem because many do not realize that the word itself is preceded by ‘demons’ “

The country can be fixed by Ghanaians without resorting to demonstrations or hooliganisms. Can we compare and contrast what is going on in our neighbouring countries? It is highly crucial for the promoters of fix the country to meet with the authorities, particularly, the President of the Republic for negotiations instead of resorting to demonstrations. Fixing the country must start from everywhere in Ghana.

Is disrespecting the governing authorities one of the ways of fixing the country? The answer is an emphatic NO!

The Bible says, in Romans 13:1-2, “Let every person be loyally subject to the governing (civil) authorities. For there is no authority except from God (by his permission, his sanction), and those that exist do so by God’s appointment. Therefore he/she who resists and sets himself up against the authorities resists what God has appointed and arranged (in divine order). And those who resist will bring down judgment upon themselves (receiving the penalty due them)”

Let us all peruse and meditate on Romans 13:1-2 and advise one another, particularly, those who are fond of insulting our political, religious, traditional and academic leaders.

Also, it appears that all the successive governments have failed Ghana in terms of opting for long-term development agenda. As Ghana does not have any long-term development agenda, politicians deliberately refuse to continue development projects of the previous governments. Is it possible, to fix the country, when all the previous governments in Ghana never continued projects started by their predecessors? In other words, it would be advisable to have a national manifesto that will pave the way for the adoption of long-term development agenda, and not patronising political parties’ manifestoes. It is crucial to phase out political parties’ manifestoes in Ghana. This is because, no political party in Ghana can fix the country. Without embracing and opting for long-term development agenda in Ghana, fixing the country will be a monumental fiasco.

In fact, it would be expedient to change “Fix the country” to let’s fix the country. All hands must be on deck to fix the country. No political party or President can singlehandedly fix the country Ghana.

Jean-Paul Sartre, a French Philosopher once said, «un être humain est condamné à être libre », meaning "Man is condemned to be free". That is to say that, we should make choices and be ready to bear the repercussions of the choices we make.

It can be deduced from this philosophical statement that, our total freedom does not depend on any politician or foreign assistance. We have to make meaningful choices that are geared towards all-round development in Ghana instead of depending on tied aid and loans from the developed countries.

In short, let us take a collective decision to fix the country, and stop depending on politicians as well as depending on tied loans and tied aid from the developed countries.

“Thus says the Lord, Cursed (with great evil) is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man, making weak (human) flesh his arm, and whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord.”(Jeremiah 17:5).

The writer is a lecturer at the Ghana Communication Technology University

Email: [email protected]