It has now emerged that majority of our people, especially the politicians, do not want to be part of the solutions to the country’s challenges. They know the malaise of the country at their finger tips but when it comes to fixing them, then they engage in the blame-game.
Thus the government and in this case, the Akufo-Addo government becomes the whipping boy who must take all the blames for our woes, including the flood disaster caused by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam. These challenges have exposed the partisan nature of most of our leaders whom we have also looked up as role models.
We ask where Ghanaians would put personalities such as Professor Frimpong Boateng, Professor Stephen Adei, Dr Nyaho Tamakloe and Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah judging from the unsubstantiated statements they made in recent times?
They may not be the same role models of yore because the statements they make just expose them as bitter for one reason or the other.
While these characters throw bombs at the political leadership that some were recently part of, the NDC has also formed an unholy alliance with the media, academia and civil society to attack the government for its handling of the spillage.
We think the posturing of these personalities expose them as white sepulchres but no longer role models concerned about Ghana but their parochial interests. Going into 2024, these are the people who must be watched carefully, for they have no credible alternative on the table.
As the politicians try once again to score political points with the devastation caused by the spillage, the people of Mepe for instance have become pawns in the chess game.
While our brothers and sisters struggle to deal with alternative accommodation, the politicians with support from the media spend precious hours to debate who said what and whether what someone donated was enough or not. Is it not the case that in circumstances like this those that God has blessed are enjoined to contribute their widow’s mite to support the less fortunate in the country?
Again, do we have a situation where any single individual can carry the burden of dealing with the national emergency? For after all, our sages say “little drops of water make a mighty ocean” and also that “onyankopon eniwa obaku fo nsa Ɛnsu kata” to buttress the need for collective efforts to deal with the scourge caused by the spillage.
Despite the razz matazz that has greeted the discomfort of the people in the Tongu area and elsewhere, this latest spillage will serve as a wakeup call to our policymakers to deal with disasters and how we handle the Akosombo spillage in future.
Do we as a nation have any blueprint to deal with national emergencies? We know we have institutions such as National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ambulance Service and Fire Service, but how resourced are they to deal with the challenges facing the people? Now the Jack of all trades who have not handled any basic engineering tool before are propounding “crazy” theories and calling on the top brass of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to resign.