My Will To Survive In Ghana

Family Savage: At home with Francisca and little Joel Savage, the last of my three sons

There are many people in Ghana, like most African countries, having the knowledge that Europe is paradise, the reason many Ghanaians prefer to leave the shores of Ghana, in search of greener pastures. Not at all, Europe is not paradise but politicians who care about the citizens, have created a system that a common citizen will equally enjoy like a high level professional or individual.

There is corruption in Europe too but wise politicians know what the people want and without asking, they provide all the necessary amenities. Since they think about tomorrow, quality projects are built to serve for years, thus, money that goes into the pockets is often not detected. Unlike Africa, shoddy works are done and the greater part of the money goes into their pockets.

You don’t need to be rich before buying a house to pay your mortgage or buy the car of your dream. You earn 1600 Euros each month, you can go for a brand new car and pay about 300 Euros monthly. A bank can pay your house at a cost of about 80,000 Euros, while you pay monthly till the years stipulated in the contract to finish the payment. This can be between 20 to 30 years.

After about ten years, you can sell the house and make a profit and the bank will give you the difference, probably, between 15,000 Euros to 20,000. This is how life goes on in Europe and since there aren’t such opportunities or if they exist, only rich people in Africa could enjoy them, poor people or refugees leave Africa in large numbers to Europe to seek a better life.

No matter how life is good, there is no Ghanaian who likes to live in Europe forever. There is a joke that Ghanaian women don’t like to marry a Fantse because when they travel they don’t like to come back to Ghana. I am a pure Fantse, born in Cape Coast but it’s not my wish to die in Europe. Since 1986, I have made many attempts to settle at home but the unfriendly atmosphere in Ghana drives me back to Europe.

My last attempt was when I bought a plot and invested 10,000 Euros for a small project. I lost both the land and the money because the chief was a fraudulent person preying on Africans in the Diaspora. The same plot is sold to multiple people. This is the reason I have never trusted the Ghana judiciary system and will never trust it until I go down into my grave.

If the judiciary system in Ghana is powerful and efficient, something like that will never take place in Ghana. The chiefs behind such frauds in Ghana know how corrupt the judiciary system is, therefore, don’t care. Surprisingly, the Ghanaian government is happy about that without doing anything significant about it because birds of the same feathers flock together.

Despite how flexible Europe’s economy is, with food as the cheapest commodity, life in Europe has been very tough for both citizens and foreigners. There are many Ghanaians in Europe who can’t handle things, either driving them to commit suicide or developing mental problems. Sometimes, it’s even better to be in Africa, than in Europe because there is no loneliness in Africa but there is in Europe.

You share a common door with your neighbour, yet about three to four months, you have never seen his or her face. That sounds strange but it’s a normal thing in Europe. The Ghanaian government mustn’t consider their posts as an opportunity to amass wealth and ignore the needs of Ghanaians and those in the Diaspora.

I am really tired in Europe and want to come home to settle in Ghana, but I will only do so if I hear one day that a chief or Nyantakyi type of criminals have been sent to jail for either fraud or corruption or the Ghana police have arrested the assailants of journalist Hussein- Suale.

That will convince me that Ghana is now a serious country with an improved judiciary system and an efficient police service.