Shameless display of greed and theft

Once upon a time, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan were countries Ghana could stand head to head with. Indeed, we had a resilient economy which was the brightest in the sub-Saharan region. That was just a little over four decades ago.

While these countries worked on their deficiencies, we stood still to watch. Few years down the line, their fortunes have seen a complete turnaround. They possess economies that have become models for most developing countries.

Of course the parameters for these countries were not exactly the same despite some striking similarities. For every two step we take, we take three backwards. Over the years, our leaders have become “visionless, clueless, directionless and purposeless.”

Since the time Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa into this country, the crop's fate has not changed. We still export the beans in its raw state. The nature of our economy, indeed, has not changed since the Guggisberg era.

The only thing which seems to have changed, however for the worst, is the way our leaders plunder public monies. In recent times, corruption has become part of our daily news bulletin. The news is never complete without report of financial malfeasance.

Watching proceedings of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee and the Sole Commissioner's Judgement Debt will make your heart cringe. Some of our leaders, mostly well-educated have proven to be the worst culprits of such nation wrecks.

Of course I can't readily mention names of such culprits but a cursory look will at least give you a clue. We have had the era of kickbacks, judgement debts and now let's welcome the era of institutionalized corruption. Under this category, we have had the likes of GYEEDA, SUBAH, SADA and many more.

We have never as a country demonstrated a political will to fight corruption. In fact most cases, it is an open secret that those supposed to protect the public purse themselves are usually neck deep in corruption. It is really a worrying trend.

The recent trend of corruption point to a grand collusion scheme between those in government and some private individuals who are mostly party financiers. Normally you listen to the monies involved in such enterprises and you wonder whether it is worth dying for this country.

We have reduced Parliament to the approval of loans and grants agreements; which they do on almost daily basis. Without any iota of shame, we append our signatures to some meagre loan amounts which we could have easily raised domestically.

As if that's not in enough, when these leaders travel, they go cup in hand begging like a primary school pupil who has lost his pocket money. Really shameful. I am not against lobbying for foreign direct investment; every country needs more of that.

What I don't get is when we beg for funds to complete infrastructural developments. Almost all of our major infrastructure developments in this country have come by way or was assisted by some donor support. The list is endless; now you have the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange which is being assisted by the Brazilians.

There's no free lunch anywhere. The support we get from donors are taxes paid by their citizens which are meant to be invested properly. So if you think the Brazilian support, which just like any other, is a dash, you certainly belong to Mars.

Hidden in most of these agreements is a clause or two that always inure to the benefit of the donor. When I heard that the Circle Interchange will cost a little over 78 million euros, I nearly wept. So is it that money that we can't afford or what?

We have never had monies for developments but we are willing to spend over Ghs1billion on GYEEDA, close to US$500million on judgement debts, Ghs144million on Subah Infosolutions etc for particular no returns.

The crass corruption in this country is what has plummeted our economy to this abyss; the levels that saw us go HIPC. Those in charge of our purse are busily finding creative means to “create, loot and share” without thinking about the health of this economy.

No country will ever take us serious if we continue to squander public funds in that manner. Most of the monies we generate locally, apart from being used as wages for public sector workers, goes down the drain; lost forever.

How much did the George Walker Bush N1 Highway cost? Less than US$75 million but I tell you if it had been a Government of Ghana (GoG) funded project, it would have cost not more than US$150 million to the tax payer.

Some people treat this country with no jot of conscience. The kayayo, shoeshine, waakye seller, pure water seller, those selling “brukina” in traffic intersections; all they have wanted from a decent government is to be able to access basic healthcare, decent roads and at least reliable utilities.

The National Health Insurance Scheme is on its knees begging to be saved. Our roads a dogged with heavy traffic because where interchanges were supposed to have been constructed, we have put traffic lights or roundabouts in their stead all because our “no money” syndrome.

As for the utilities, in some areas water is scarcer than gold and with our electricity, it comes and goes off at will. Sometimes I hate it when I am asked that dreaded question. “Are we becoming a failed state?” I hate to think that way but I don't think we are on the trajectory to economic revolution either.

As long as every month, monies –no matter how small, are deducted from my salary under the guise of “income tax” I owe nobody an apology for demanding the right thing. These shameless theft of the poor people's monies must stop, someday.

No country ever develops on the back of donor support. We need to untie ourselves from the strings of the donor countries' aprons.

Our elders say, when an adult watches unconcerned as children savour the meat of the serpent; he will surely be considered as one of them.

Enough of the review committees, government must sit-up, now!

I'm out.

Richard Annerquaye ABBEY
Email: [email protected]
The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).