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30.03.2015 Feature Article

The Institutionalization of Corruption: The Twin Sister of Ebola

The Institutionalization of Corruption: The Twin Sister of Ebola
30.03.2015 LISTEN

The scare of Ebola in the sub-region of West-Africa renewed a wave of debate which opened the public space where perceptions, opinions and expert advices were molded into a global discourse.

We congratulate our gallant men and women who volunteered and went to this Ebola-infected countries and are back with us. Bravo!

To many people, the outbreak of Ebola was the worst disease to strike mankind since the time of Adam. The World Bank estimated that the disease would cost the already poverty-ravaged sub-region $80M, unless concerted efforts were taken to stop the spread of the disease. Everybody within the sub-region was subjected to some form of fear, anxiety and harrowing experiences. To some, the Ebola disease was synonymous to the biblical pestilence and therefore sought refuge in the “Old Man” above. Others had a contrary view, to them, the African gods were angry and needed to be pacified.

And as very typical of Africans, some people did not hesitate to exploit the humor side of the whole episode. Several satirical videos became popular on social media, with some clips racking up hundreds of thousands of viewers. This stirred a sort of happy experiences despite deepening the fears of the already fear-gripped African.

At an individual level, the Ebola scare expanded my vocabulary wardrobe, for the words, “epidemic” and “pandemic” had ringed in my ears several times, but I had not bothered to find out the difference between these seemly similar words. But thanks to the Ebola outbreak, it dawned on me that after all, the two words could be said to be “cousins” but certainly not “twin sisters” who spilled from the same ovary.

In the midst of this mounting fear and anxiety, the Ebola scare became the “hook” for major local and international media houses, but surprisingly, I laughed it off each time I saw any bulletin that contained Ebola-related story. In my opinion, the world and its people were hypocrites.

Some held the school of thought that Ebola was a population control weapon manufactured in the lab by the West that was intended to reduce the population of Africa. To them, the West feared the arithmetic growth in population of Africa threatened their survival. But that was not my beef, my “mutton” was that the African suffered a more deadly disease far dangerous than Ebola. A disease which had been allowed to thrive for decades but has only received 'kid blows' in its combat. In my view, that disease was synonymous to the proverbial snake, very coldly and shiny, but deadly when it stroke. The worst disease of our time, in my opinion, was not the much advertised Ebola, but the institutionalization of corruption.

According to the Transparency Intentional, an anti-corruption body's report 2013, corruption cost Africa more than $80billion a year, far more than the $30billion African countries received annually as grants from the West.

The symptoms of this canker is staring us on the face in all facets of our national lives.

I walked into one public office in 2010 and I still remember every episode I witnessed as vividly as the day a decent woman breaks her virginity. The woman in the office, apparently, the secretary to the “big man” I was going to look for, gave me scornful look and told me straight in the face that the man was not there. Meanwhile I had spotted the man's car parked in the compound, so I suspected the woman might be lying to me. After the back and forth argument, I decided to wait for a while. All of a sudden, a man walked into the office and this woman told him the same story but the man dipped into his pocket and dropped 5 cedis note on her table. To my surprise, the woman wobbled into an adjoining office, came back in a jiffy and told the man to see her boss. You see! People now demand to be bribed before they execute the services they are hired to render, for which they are paid.

The CDD report released on December, 2, 2014 indicted several institutions in Ghana of corrupt practices including “sacred” institutions such as the Judiciary and the Office of the Presidency. The Police Institution as expected fell on the number three position. This was not surprising since the Police Service have institutionalized the “mandatory one Ghana cedis road tax” that trotro drivers must pay to them each time the police mounted a barricade on the road.

Corruption from the word go, has been attached to the umbilical cord of the African. The Africa traditional systems in itself reinforce corrupt practices. This might sound very impolite and harsh, but that is the bitter truth. There have been several reported cases of traditional leaders selling lands to multiple buyers. Besides that, traditionally, a person who visited the Chief's Palace was expected to go there wrapped with a gift.

Former President Jerry John Rawlings ignited a controversy when he described some men of God as charlatans who were using magic to deceive some naïve Ghanaians. Some people called for his head for touching God's anointed children, but the activities of some men of God seem to give currency to his statement.

It is evident that some men of God are turning into millionaires at the expense of their congregation who continue to wallow in perpetual poverty.

Inasmuch as religion is the soul of every society and by extension country, it is high time the behaviors of some so-called men of God are fine-tuned to reflect the very gospel they preached about. Religion has the core mandate to transform lives of the marginalized and the socially-handicapped by bestowing hope, understanding and drawing people closer to their maker, but contrary, we have wittingly or unwittingly raised some men of God above sainthood, making it blasphemous to criticize them even when they crossed the line.

Even in our political front, competency has been thrown to the dogs. All that a person who wants to occupy a political office needs to do is to bribe his or her way through. Ironically, if you demand that someone must give you money before you vote for him or her, then do you have the moral right to criticize the person if he or she fails to deliver on his or her mandate?

I contested for the position of Local NUGS Secretary in the University of Cape Coast some time ago but I lost it, not because my competitor who finally won was competent more than I was, or possibly, because I did not adopt a proper campaign strategy, the only wall that separated me from achieving my goal was that I was unyielding to tow the status quo. Every person I approached demanded I gave them money because, according to them, every person seeking leadership position was only going there to loot.

All the influential traditional leaders in all the halls of residence I approached demanded not less than 500 cedis before they would rally their support behind me. If you multiple that amount of money by the six traditional halls, then your guess would be as good as mine. This was beside the “hausa koko”, “shawani” and yoghurt I was supposed to share to “buy students' vote” in addition to printing of posters. So if I spend more than 5,000 cedis just to occupy a position of Local NUGS Secretary, would you begrudge me when I become corrupt?

This might sound like a fairy tale but the reality is that many of our national politicians go through similar, if not worse ordeals in their quest to occupy political offices. We should not always think of corruption in terms of political leadership. We must realize that our individual actions or inactions are contributory factors that continue to nourish this beast called corruption.

Today we have all joined the bandwagon to protest against Woyome unlawful judgement debt payment, the GYEEDA scandal, NSS rot, Police recruitment scam and the rest. That is an awesome showcase of patriotism, but at the individual level, are we upholding integrity in our daily activities? Do we pay lip service to its combat?

If the world could contribute billions of dollars to combat Ebola virus, what prevent us from pulling our resource to fight a more deadly disease like corruption which is tearing our continent apart? Africa certainly needs a conscious revolution that would awaken us from our deepest slumber.

Writer: Abdul-Karim Mohammed Awaf
Communication Studies(Level 400)
University of Cape Coast

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