An uprising may work in Ghana!

Folks, I have decided to talk about a very controversial matter and as such, I have chosen this provocative headline. I am not oblivious of such headlines and how they can attract invitations from the National Security, but the intent of this article is as open and transparent as the Gate of Heaven. I have no evil aim in writing this piece and do not think this free opinion of mine will warrant such invitation from the state’s security apparatus.

Recently, I listened to an interview conducted by Umaru Sanda Amadu of Citi Tv on his show “Face to Face” with Kwadwo Mpianim, former Chief of Staff under the erstwhile John Agyekum Kufour's administration. The interviewer asked Mr. Mpianim “looking at what has happened in Mali and Guinea recently, do you think the same may happen in Ghana?’ His response to that question is what has inspired me to write on this matter. He said what he feared is about an uprising happening in Ghana if proper measures are not put in place and not a Coup. Looking at the circumstances, the hardship and the increasing rate of unemployment, these elements can necessitate such an uprising.

It is good sometimes, some of these retired politicians or statemen try to speak the truth even though they wouldn't do so when they are in active politics. I have always had this thought of an uprising emanating from the citizens because the rate at which the country is been steered makes survival almost impossible. I do not support the take-over of democratically elected governments by the military because all the Military interventions which have happened in Ghana and the rest of Africa have served us no useful purpose. They have proved to us time and time again that they are not competent in handling the affairs of the state and deserves to be at the barracks or the battlefield. They have always performed abysmally in governance.

Military take-over from civilian governments is a form of 'premature ejaculation which can never impregnate a fertile woman! The moment these people in uniform who over the years have demonstrated ignorance in governance take over the helm of the affairs they tend to make you believe they are working assiduously to get the country on the track of recovery in the early part of the regimes but as fate will always have it they lose focus and in the long run, mess everything up and leave the country in a darker state than they met it.

Having studied Political Science as a course at Ghana’s premier University, having read about almost all the military take-overs on the continent of Africa and having found out the abysmal performance of these juntas and the deplorable states which these juntas left their various countries, I speak with the same voice as the populace that military interventions or coups are not welcomed and thus our men in uniform should be confined to the barracks or the battlefield where they perform better!

However, for some time now, there have been some agitations from citizens about their conditions of living. One such campaign which attracted many people especially the youth to drum home the concern of the ordinary Ghanaian is the ‘#FixtheCountry' campaign which aim was to among other things put and push the government on its toes to work around the clock to provide the citizens with their basic needs. Since then, there have been series of demonstrations by citizens and some meetings between the organizers of this movement and some key ministers of government.

I note in all honesty that after all these agitations, meetings, and demonstrations the government of the day seems to be doing nothing about the situation and the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian gets worse by the day and we as a people are left to our own fate. Talk of hardship in the country and politicians we will woo you with their everyday rhetoric. To be honest, if the economic hardship we are experiencing now were to be in 1970’s or 1980’s I am confident this would have warranted a military takeover. We are living in hell after we were promised heaven by the government of the day

A lot of seem to be happening but no one seems to care and provide answers. We have leaders who are very comfortable because they are misusing and abusing taxpayers’ money without even reasoning. The statistics regarding unemployment among the youth of Ghana should be a source of worry for any government especially ours. Anytime I think about this issue, I cringe! I do so because whenever I am in town, I see young, energetic, enthusiastic, vibrant men and women who are ready to work but have no such opportunity and rather end up wasting their time and energy on our streets. As the popular adage goes “an idle mind is the workshop of the devil” I hope our leaders take steps to resolve this social menace before the very youth who are always tagged as future leaders of our dear nation become pick pockets and hardened criminals who will vent their anger on them because after all it is our leaders who drive luxurious cars with their tinted car windows rolled up!

Security experts know very well that unemployment is a big threat to national security and the moment the state does not find any better ways of solving such issue, Mother Ghana as a country and her children are sitting on tenterhooks. The spate of alleged contract killings is on the rise and as for broad day light robberies, the least said about it, the better. Suspects who eventually turn accused persons of these crimes during investigations by the Police turn out to be unemployed youth who usually have had to resort to the commission of crime just to survive.

Year in year out, thousands of youth are churned out by various tertiary institutions in the country and after they are done with their National Service, they are left to their fate. There are no plans by the government to absorb these people to make sure that they get employed and contribute their quota to the development of the country.

Some of the factors which compelled the Arab Spring are evident in Ghana today. High cost of living, unemployment, corruption, heavy taxes imposed by the government and extreme hardship are some of the challenges that we are facing as a country.

Corruption has become a lucrative business for government officials and those in power to engage in it. Ever since this government took over in 2017, the number of corruption scandals that have rocked this administration and the “incorruptible President” are unprecedented. The president has "no balls" to deal with appointees who engage in such devilish acts. He is always the first person to clear them before investigations are concluded on such cases. We are witnessing an unprecedented rate of corruption since independence. All we hear from the president is about lip service to deal with corrupt practices in his administration, but no proper action has been taken by the President to deal with his corrupt appointees.

People who could barely afford 2 square meals a day when they were in opposition suddenly become the richest people in the country as soon as their party comes into power. They loot from the very people who they are supposed to serve and help. Don’t you think it is only an uprising by the citizenry that can stop this nonsense?

While citizens are always gnashing their teeth about these problems, the appointees of the President and other government officials on the other hand are living laborious lives. If such happenings continue, then it is suggested that an uprising by the citizenry will pose answers to the questions asked by the citizens as to why living conditions in the country is getting worse by the day.

Has it ever crossed your mind where all these luxurious Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV’s) especially the Toyota Land Cruiser V8 vehicles are coming from and who fuels them for these politicians to use? I always get furious anytime I see a minister on my television screen. To me, these people are the biggest problem we have in Ghana. They live all the beautiful lives and buy all the beautiful things in the country yet the people they serve are groaning in abject poverty. Who pays for the things they use? The most annoying part is the extreme arrogance they display when they are in town especially in traffic. They do not want to spend one minute in traffic and always blurring their horns thereby exacerbating the issue.

It has now become a crime for someone to even go to university because after you have paid millions of cedis to make sure you get all the skills and knowledge to help you get a decent paying job, you do not get such an opportunity due to no faults of yours. You end up becoming a liability and a burden on your parents. What do you expect them to do?

Just in 2021, fuel prices have spiked more than 6 times, and this has made commercial drivers and their respective unions increase transport fares. Prices of goods and services are always on the ascendency. To compound the woes of the Ghanaian, rent is the newest “cocaine” in town.

Maybe an uprising may work! It may put the government on its toes and see-through whatever challenges we are facing. We thought voting out the erstwhile John Mahama NDC led administration and giving power to this current government was going to solve our problems as Ghanaians, but we only succeeded in moving from frying pan to fire. Since this method has yielded no positive result why don't we try the uprising approach and make this government and the subsequent ones care more, be vigilant, and reasonable with the citizens?

It is now the norm that, if you want quick money than politics is the way to go because that is where the money is. They enter politics to loot from the state. They appoint their family members and friends into high offices in their government and tell the rest of the people to go to hell…

If citizens hit the streets for about one to three months, this will draw their attention and make them begin to reason. As of now, they are not thinking enough and that is why they are living in better conditions at the expense of ordinary citizens.

If a government is supervising the construction of a national cathedral worth over $100m while citizens barely find a better place to sleep after a hard day’s work, then we have lost focus as a people and a country. We want to build a house for God while the children of God sleep under bridges and can hardly afford a day’s meal? What baffles me is how despite the criticism and backlash this project has received the president is bent on building this monument and has asked citizens to make 100 cedis per month till the building is completed. I have had a good bite about this national cathedral issue, and I am not going to talk about it in this piece.

If we can block the major roads in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale and all the major cities peacefully without any movement of vehicles for about a month and hit the streets the people in authority will take us seriously and be committed to providing solutions for us.

In conclusion, let it be clear that this article is not calling for any revolution by the military, that’s not the intent of this piece but maybe an uprising from the citizens especially from the young graduates who have completed their various forms of training for about 5 to 7 years and are still not working. We need answers and maybe an uprising may work for us.

Ghana must work again, Ghana will work again, YOUNG POSITIVIST, a concerned citizen of Ghana.

Author: Sampson Boamah ( [email protected] Twitter: @ypositivist)