Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021b

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 22nd September, 2021 Page 5
Do Ghanaians really love Ghana?
By Aseye Dey
One Wednesday
morning, I was listening
to Bernard
Avle and his team
on the Citi Breakfast
Show.
They were talking about
the swearing-in of the new
board of governors for the various
State-Owned Enterprises.
Bernard Avle admonished the
new board members to carry
out their duties with patriotism
and not be focused on the
allowances they would be receiving
like what many public
officers do.
As I listened to him, a question
popped out of my mind,
“Do Ghanaians really love
Ghana? Do they want to see
the motherland progress like
the “Asian tigers”? The answer
that followed was; just a few
Ghanaians really love Ghana.
This answer came out after a
reflection on the recent happenings,
the attitude of Ghanaians
from leadership down to
the ordinary citizens.
For Ghana to make it, there
should be a conscious effort
by our leaders and citizens to
make Ghana develop not just
for us but for future generations.
Unfortunately for
Ghana, she does not have the
full support of her citizens to
enable her to develop.
Many of our politicians,
public servants, professionals
are more concerned with
what they will get from the
state while caring less about
the service they render to the
state to move its steps forward.
For instance, a politician is
sworn in as a minister, his first
focus is to get his Land Cruiser,
allowances, fat salaries, and
other goodies that come with
the position but are not patriotic
enough to be more concerned
about serving the state
earnestly; critically looking for
solutions to solve the problems
bedevilling the state. People
who occupy positions that
require them to make decisions
beneficial to the country
end up putting their interests
above that of the state. Some
sign bad deals on behalf of the
state causing the state to lose
millions of cedis.
They sign deals that they
know they will never sign if
it were their private company
they were running. They read
clauses that do not ensure to
the benefit of the state, but
they still sign it because there
is a cut for them personally or
for their friends and family.
Contractors are given
contracts to construct roads,
schools, gutters, bridges, and
other projects, and instead
of the government officials
charged with the responsibility
to supervise the work to
ensure the state gets value for
money they just want their
percentage from the funds
meant for the construction. As
a result, shoddy work is done,
causing the state to spend
more money to reconstruct or
maintain them when they do
not stand the test of time.
In the bushes, left to waste
away, are abandoned projects:
hospitals, schools, factories
simply because it was started
by the previous government or
because starting a new project
would enable a big man to line
his pocket.
A similar thing was done
by the previous government.
Sadly, it is the trend now. If our
leaders had the least sense of
patriotism, they would have
been more concerned about
the way taxpayers’ funds are
wasting. Some of these projects
were financed with loans
which the state is expected to
pay back. Unfortunately, the
taxpayers will be paying back
loans they have not benefitted
from. Too much partisanship
and vindictiveness are causing
the state dearly.
The situation of Komenda
Sugar factory saddens me so
much, how a multi-million
dollar sugar factory could be
left to rust away while many
residents of Komenda are
unemployed. We import all
the sugar we consume, putting
stress on the cedi while
we have a sugar factory in the
bush. The state has not been
able to recoup the investment,
yet more money would have
to be spent to renovate it. I almost
wept when I watched the
Joy News hotline documentary
on the state of the sugar
factory.
The government has assured
us for some years now
that they were getting investors
to operate the factory
but to date, the factory is still
there rusting further. Nothing
was done to prevent the metals
from rusting, completely
heartbreaking.
The story would have been
different if the money used to
build the sugar factory came
from their pockets. However,
there has been some assurance
from the trade minister,
Alan Kyeremanten to get the
Komenda Sugar Factory operational
by the end of 2021. I
hope he does not relent on his
assurance.
Another issue is the greed
of many Ghanaians. A number
of Ghanaians especially
professionals, politicians, and
public workers just work to ensure
the problems of the state
do not affect them instead of
them using their expertise to
solve the problems bedevilling
the state as a whole. Bribery
and corruption are the order
of the day. The people who genuinely
fight the wrong within
the system are frustrated by
the people who are supposed
to empower them; Domelevo
and the likes would tell you
their story. Public servants
paid with state funds rip off
the state with their actions or
inactions.
The rot superintended by
some public servants within
the system with impunity
is mind-boggling. The past
months saw the release of
audit reports by the Auditors
General Department on the
running of State-Owned Institutions.
Almost all the audit
reports on the various State
Institutions revealed financial
malfeasance and infractions,
mostly deliberately caused.
The reports also revealed how
the state lost millions of Cedis
to these financial infractions.
The intent to protect the public
purse is lost. Even universities
like KNUST, University of
Ghana were not excluded.
Public servants causing
all these infractions without
caring about how they would
slow down the country’s development.
Little or nothing
has been done to punish the
culprits of these infractions or
even retrieve the monies lost.
Ghanaians Celebrate First President
With #Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day
As the country
celebrates the
birthday of its
first President,
Dr Kwame Nkrumah,
many people both young
and old have taken to social
media to celebrate him with
the hashtag Kwame Nkrumah
Memorial Day.
Today’s statutory public
holiday followed the passage
of the Public Holiday Amendment
Bill into law in March
2019.
After leading the CPP to
victory to form a government,
he became the leader of government
business in 1951. The
move, eventually led Ghana,
formally the Gold Coast to independence
from British rule
in 1957.
As the leader of the country,
Dr Nkrumah led massive
socio-economic development
that resulted in a number
of infrastructural projects,
including the construction
of the Akosombo Dam, the
Tema Motorway, among other
projects.
I am yet to hear that monies
stolen from the state were
retrieved. If it were China or
those other countries that
have their systems working
well or have the development
of their country at heart, these
people would be jailed by now.
Mind you, the huge sums
of money the state loses to
corruption, misappropriation
and mismanagement deprive
other aspects of the needed
development. For instance,
these young women and girls
migrating from the north to
work as head potters in Accra
and Kumasi. They live undignified
lives here. The millions
of Cedis that are wasted could
be put into developing the regions
in the North so that the
opportunities they seek here
in Accra and Kumasi would be
available to them there. This
would take away the need to
migrate to the south for greener
pastures. The infrastructural
development those monies
could have provided the state
misapplied without the fear
of God.
The big problem with the
youth in Ghana is too much
affiliation to political parties.
Putting their love for NPP or
NDC above that of the state,
refusing to discern on issues
as a result. They forget that
NPP and NDC will not support
the future generation, but the
state.
This problem is also with
some of our professionals, who
should know better. Ghana
is bigger than NPP and NDC.
Issues that border on national
interest are seen through
party lenses. I was highly
disappointed when I heard the
MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam
George says he puts NDC first
before Ghana. A person with
that mentality in parliament
is no good for Ghana. Many
other politicians get power
and want to first satisfy their
party needs before that of Ghana.
How will Ghana make the
progress it ought to make?
The wealthy countries
we admire today did not get
there by doing the things
Ghanaians are doing to their
country. They got there as a
result of love for their country,
strengthened institutions,
putting the interest of the
country above individual or
party interests, and a lot of
sacrifices from leaders and
citizens. Their leaders yearn
for the development of their
country; the well-being of the
masses. Last but not least, they
use state resources judiciously;
the state benefits largely
from expenditures made,
unlike here in Ghana with all
the wastage.