Ghana has only one major problem which when effectively resolved, alll shall be well with her

Ghana has only one major problem which when effectively resolved, all shall be well with her

Many a Ghanaian may dispute the fact that Ghana has only one major problem that is holding her back from succeeding in her attempts for socio-economic emancipation. This problem, although as easy to be resolved at the crack of the fingers in the white man’s land, is so insurmountable to Ghanaians and their leadership.

At this point of my brief statement, who among the public readers can guess what the problem is? It is not the official corruption of malfeasance, embezzling state funds and assets. It is neither the lies, insults, false prophecies and the ongoing havoc being wreaked on Ghana by the illegal surface and alluvial mining, otherwise called galamsey.

What is it then, a curious mind may query?

Before the writer tells you the exact problem, he will first have you to note the following proverbial saying by the Akan elders in Ghana. They say, “when you cut off the head of a snake, the rest of its body will have become a rope”.

A rope is lifeless. A rope lying on the ground by itself without anyone making a noose of it is harmless. This is the implication the elders seek to carry across, or impart, to us, when they talk about a snake with its head chopped off.

Ghana’s major problem that has begotten all the obviously known problems is the “non-enforcement of the laws”. Ghana as a state, has got many laws entrenched in the constitution, many made by parliament and some by the courts to become references as in case law or High Court rules.

If the laws were to be enforced, the official corruption with its ramifications and metamorphoses into kidnappings, murders, arsons, insults, depletion of state coffers and any other problems militating against the progress of Ghana as you can think of, will become the thing of the past.

The head of all the problems in Ghana, both known and unknown, is the lack of, or inability, to enforce the obedience of the laws.

There is a law against stealing, yet people steal with impunity. There is a law against embezzlement of funds and state assets, yet some people in positions of trust embezzle funds and state assets and get away with it. It is all because there is a complete laxity in the enforcement of the laws hence people becoming emboldened to commit crimes with passion.

Until laws are fully respected through strictest enforcement as prevails in countries like Singapore and the Western developed countries, Ghana will continue to stagnate, wobble, if not retrogress, in all her attempts to develop.

There is no proper but shoddy development in the absence of the enforcement of the laws.

For example, there is a presidential directive against illegal surface and alluvial mining in Ghana yet, some foreigners in Ghana, especially the Chinese, let alone, native Ghanaians, are flouting the directive with the knowledge that nothing serious will happen to them if caught.

If there was a serious mechanism in place to enforce the obedience of the laws in Ghana, we will not be experiencing that magnitude of underdevelopment with a huge indebtedness to foreign countries including China, as we are witnessing.

The enforcement of the law to rid Ghana of all the problems she is going through is like cutting off the head of a highly venomous snake to render it harmless.

It is a leader who can enforce the strictest adherence to the laws that Ghana needs. Without any such leader but the usual believers in "the whirlwind will settle at last", therefore you had better leave the law to take its natural course no matter how long it takes, the country is in trouble.

To have populists persons who are indeed hollow in substance at the helm of the nation's affairs, my country Ghana is doomed and consigned to a slippery slope into enslavement by the Chinese in this 21st Century.

Rockson Adofo

Wednesday, 5 October 2022