Election 2024: An opportunity to end the state capture and seek accountability

In a democracy, every election year brings an opportunity to either endorse or disapprove the actions and inactions of a ruling government. Endorsement is only given to a party that has respected and fulfilled the social contract it has with the masses. On the other hand, rejection is given to a party that has disappointed the masses whiles enriching themselves to the detriment of the populace.

1 Corinthians 10:23 says “All things are lawful to us [that is, morally legitimate, permissible], but not all things are beneficial to us. Just because we have the freedom and power to do something does not mean that we should do them. We must think carefully about how our decisions affect our brothers and sisters, especially those whose interest we are morally, ethically and legally obliged to serve. Our politicians must be conscious of how history will remember them, and must be worried about how their souls will be judged by our maker after their demise.

Mark. 8:35 says “for what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul”? Majority of our politicians in power today are either Christians or Muslims, and they know that death is inevitable, after which there is judgement. Yet, they have occupied themselves with activities of illegally amassing wealth as if there is no judgement.

Quran 102: 1-2says “Mankind is distracted by worldly gains, until he finds himself in his grave”. This is the reality of life, yet our politicians, especially, officials of this Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government are behaving as though they will live forever, or they do not believe the scriptures. They are engaging in state capture never witnessed in this country since 1992.

State capture is a system of corruption where narrow interest groups take control of the institutions and processes through which public policy is made, directing public policy away from the public interest and instead shaping it to serve their own personal interests. This group of people use their power and influence to transfer the wealth of the masses to themselves and associates.

Hellman et al., (2000) introduced the concept in the 1990s to describe patterns of behaviour observed during the first decade of transition in parts of the former Soviet Union (FSU) and Eastern Europe. They defined it as improper influence over the formation of laws and policy, contrasting it with “administrative corruption”, in which improper influence was exerted over the implementation of laws and policy, i.e., at a later stage in the policy process. The captors of the state were businesspeople, soon to be known as ‘oligarchs’, who purchased influence over policy formation through direct kickbacks or promises of favours, using personal connections to the individuals and parties holding political power.

This is exactly what Ghana has degenerated into under the current Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government. This concept of state capture is being normalised by the current government without shame or fear of retribution. Officials of the current government are normalising state capture with impunity. The president, his vice and all those associated with this government are deeply involved in this act as if there is no tomorrow.

The president and his close associates attempted to capture the royalties from our mineral resources using the Agyapa Deal as a conduit. They also attempted to capture the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) through the dubious Power Distribution Service (PDS) scandal.

Clearly, the president was going for the bigger fish whiles his appointees are busily scrambling for the relatively smaller ones. The recent bullish and adamant posture of the government to the public outcry towards the shameful, incomprehensible and unconscionable attempt to sell some four profitable state hotels to a minister under this regime is an indication that, those in authority feels some sense of belongings to our resources. The kind of defence put up by the government’s communicators and appointees was appalling, disgusting and an insult to Ghanaians.

Forest reserve lands have been shamelessly sold to appointees of this government in a manner that shows that, they are only interested in enriching themselves.

In all honesty and sincerity, there are a lot of people in this government whose main motive is to explore loopholes in our laws to enrich themselves whiles securing financial securities for their family and descendants yet unborn to the detriment of the larger populace.

The officials of this Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government engage in all sorts of corrupt activities, they then use the proceeds from these corruption to buy state assets and properties. As citizens, it is important that we express our repulsion to this disgusting and nauseating form of stealing by the very people who are supposed to serve us.

This election is an opportunity to say enough is enough, to stop the rot and achieve accountability from those who have plundered our limited resources. It is an opportunity to let them know that power belongs to the people. A vote for the Dr. Bawumia and the NPP will be an endorsement of corruption, state capture and impunity. We must therefore vote for John Mahama and the NDC to stop the rot and retrieve the loot through the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative. We need to hold those in authorities to accountable.