The scandals are far too many to gloss over

Over the past few months, the good people of Ghana have been witnessing the staggering and unbridled scandals in the Mahama administration.

Truth is, some of our politicians just can’t help manipulating. Ghanaian politics is indeed destitute of honesty and integrity.

Ghana, regrettably, has been losing billions of dollars since the adoption of the Fourth Republican Constitution to the heartless public servants, who take delight in swindling the state at the expense of the poor, the infirm, and disadvantaged Ghanaians.

The recent visa scandal involving the officials of the Ghana Tourism Authority(GTA), the National Sports Authority(NSA), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs puzzling evacuation figures are quite embarrassing.

Unfortunately, Ghanaian politics has become an embarrassing profession, not a noble profession it used to be. Needless to say, it takes good people—good citizens and leaders with impeccable integrity and unmatched commitment to build a prosperous nation.

Yet a lot of people who can claim birth right to steadfast adherence to moral or ethical code would never go into politics.

I would like to believe they dislike the toxic levels of partisanship. They hate the intrusive media scrutiny and they aren’t ready to pay the high personal costs of political life.

Once upon a time, anyone who gained a seat in parliament was looked up to and respected by all. Alas this is not the case anymore.

Indeed, it is quite nauseating to see some public officials who prefer to be called honourable behaving somewhat dishonourably.

That being said, in a fairly stable democracy such as ours, governments pop in and out, and, given the political dynamics in Ghana, it is a trend we can expect to continue unabated.

But the all-important question concerned Ghanaians should be asking is: should we trust every political party to form a government with an uninspiring excuse of steering the nation in the right direction?

Undoubtedly, individuals have different reasons for going into politics. Some people enter into politics for their unconditional love for their nation. Others just view power as an excellent opportunity to amass wealth and enjoy other trappings that come with the job.

It would thus appear that some politicians do not care about the plight of the masses; they only scramble for power in order to pursue their vested interests.

I have always insisted that governance is a serious business and as such it requires forward thinking, serious and committed group of people to bring about the needed advancement.

Nevertheless, it has not been always the case in Ghana’s democratic dispensation. The emergence of multi-party democracy has given birth to both purposeful and maladaptive political parties.

And, we are, more often than not, been relying on negligent officials whose only preoccupation is to sink the nation deeper and deeper into the mire through unpardonable incompetence and unbridled corruption.

We, Ghanaians, are possessed with a grovelling characteristic of a sordid mind which hates anything quality but rather prefer to worship mediocrity.

Thus, our leaders, having the first-hand knowledge of our obsequious compliance, continue to take us for granted and keep offering perfunctory leadership.

In spite of the fact that corruption is a serious economic, social, political and moral impediment to the nation building, our corrupt officials are bent on siphoning our scarce resources to the detriment of the poor and disadvantaged Ghanaians.

Given the corrosive effects of bribery and corruption, countries like China, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, and Vietnam have imposed the death penalty on some acts of bribery and corruption which damage the national economy.

Besides, there are schools of thought that believe that ‘capital punishment for corruption practices, money laundering and other kinds of economic crimes can serve as a deterrent and can have long-term benefits.

We need a true leadership with vision and ideas, altruistic leadership devoid of corruption, greed, Incompetence and capable of transforming us into an industrialized and robust economy.

May God bless our homeland Ghana!
K. Badu, UK.
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