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04.03.2023 Feature Article

My father, my father

My father, my father
04.03.2023 LISTEN

"Father, the father is it true the white man is responsible for our misery?"

"What do you mean, my son?
"They misused us in the past and still exploit us till today, isn't it so here in Ghana?"

"Sure, my son. When President Nana Akufo- Addo promises Accra will be the cleanest city in Africa but plastic bottles chock the gutters everywhere so when a heavy rain comes houses are constantly underwater."

"And that we have no litter boxes in our public spaces is this also because the white man misuses us?"

"Interesting point, my son!"
"What about the 20.000 young boys on Lake Volta working as slaves for the fisher folks? Or the ghost names on the public payroll? Illegal construction of structures blocking waterways or encroaching on chieftaincy lands? Or fights between tribes and villages about lands? Or that ownership of lands is a big problem still in our country?"

"You are getting somewhere, my son!"
"Or that 2012 Melcom disaster no one was held responsible in court ever. Or the 150 June 2015 Circle disaster never compensated for their loss as promised and Goil company never faced any Judge? Or Komenda Sugar Factory was a loss to the state start as no ready market was prepared years in advance in the light of 2017 when the price guarantee of the EU for sugar ended? Or galamsey, Toxic City, buying school uniforms from China, not from indigenous manufacturers, Official No.1 bribe Airbus scandal, 135 Ministers in our President's government compared to 45 in three times larger Germany? Or Lavender Hill dumping of human feces?

"Will your list end soon, my son?"
"Or the many uncompleted private or public structures because of party politics, structures rotten away beyond repair? Or Accra not built to the original plan but growing anyhow? Or the bribe to be paid to enter the school or public service. The money a politician must pay to be accepted by the Electoral Commission in Germany free of charge? Dumsor Dumsor even the sun is shining on us always and solar panels are available in numbers at cheap costs?"

"Is your list complete, my son?"
"As long as the so-called 'Good people' among the whites and a good number of black activists still say the white man is entirely or mainly responsible for our misery I keep on asking these humble questions and am ready for completing the list."

"What is your point, my son"
"The truth as only the truth will set us free."

"Only the truly free and independent mind, the critical thinker can be free and ready for the glory of destiny, my son."

"But Africans have problems with the truth as it hurts."

"Critical thinkers are never discouraged by the truth but rather lifted up, my son."

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