“Human ingenuity is infinite when translating power and discretion into personal gain. So, from the very beginning we gave special attention to the areas where discretionary powers had been exploited for personal gain and sharpened the instruments that could prevent, detect, or deter such practices. Public order, personal security, economic and social progress, and prosperity depend on ceaseless effort and attention from an honest and effective government that the people must elect”.
–Lee Kuan Yew
Fighting corruption should be made a national crusade, a national jihad which should be fought with ecclesiastic zeal. We have seen and heard enough of the rhetoric in the fight against corruption since independence. We still continue to hear the cacophony on daily basis. President Akufo-Addo do not be deceived that currently there is a document doing time at the CHRAJ called National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP). A lot of money and consultation have been configured to bring up that document. The document attempts to provide a footpath to fight corruption. However its implementation would require all the oil revenue we can find during the next four years and still nothing would come out of it.
Lee Kuan Yew gave us a practical blueprint for fighting corruption: NAME, SHAME, JAIL and CONFISCATE. When Lee Kuan Yew stated that: “law and order provide framework for stability and development”, he institutionalised the four letter words by naming, shaming and jailing criminals in society and confiscating their illegally acquired assets to the state no matter whose ox was gored. Some of his own trusted colleagues who were found to be corrupt even committed suicide out of shame before they could be brought to justice. That was the leader who was ready and serious to fight corruption and instill discipline in a society and turn a poor third world trading post into a wealthy first world thriving Asian metropolis. .
I have heard commentators praising the quality of appointees of Nana Akufo Addo just by the look of their CVs. It is not enough, indeed it defeats the purpose to judge people by their CVs. The best thing to do is to go behind the CV as Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey was reported to have once said: ‘Don’t tell me what you know, tell me what you can do”. If President Akufo Addo wants to be taken seriously, he should also establish a small army of independent and objective minded persons with large measure of patriotic flavor and security intelligence to monitor the level of integrity performance of his appointees. This should be separate from what Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei has been appointed to do which deals with technical output performance evaluation. No nation can develop in an environment of corruption where appointees dine with the devil with glee no matter their technical output.
Since independence, this country has produced corrupt, greedy criminals parading as politicians and public servants. The decadent behaviors of these criminals who assumed office almost invariably swearing the great national oath of protecting and conserving the national purse failure of which would render them answerable to the law always turned out to be the shameless plunderers of the national wealth. After 60 years of independence, the leaders of this country still steal the national wealth and salt them away in foreign banks and use them to acquire expensive landed properties and chattels in foreign lands. Their filthy earned wealth allows them to send their children to Ivy Tower schools in developed countries and spend their birthdays in plush overseas holiday locations far from the wretched suffering of the people in Ghana. What is heart retching is that it does not take much to satisfy the poor in our society. The junior officer does not need the state provided V8 Land Cruiser of the Minister of State or that of the Chief Director. All what he or she wants is to be treated like a human being and to be provided with an efficient public transportation system which will cater for his or her needs. The secretary does not aspire to state provided S-Class Mercedes Benz car of the Chief Executive of the SOE. All what he or she wants is to be treated like a human being and given similar conditions of service which will allow him or her to acquire a Toyota Corolla under similar terms as his or her boss..
In a fair and justice society, everybody is given monetary economic remuneration package benefitting the position he or she occupies for the fellow to decide whether he or she would want to stay at Nima or Kanda and drive to work in Toyota Prado or Hyundai I10 or Suzuki 125 motorcycle. Thus the lifestyle decision making of the individual lies with the governed and not the governor. The social security system is structured in such a humane manner that you can be sure of comfortable retirement. Taxes are put to good use for the benefit of the citizens. That is why one of the most serious crimes to commit is tax evasion. The opposite is what pertains in this jungle call home. That is why many Ghanaians will voluntarily rush to board the Slave Ship should it dock at Tema Harbor this very minute.
The white slave master will ensure that he feeds you well before he uses you as a footstool. The black slave master will starve you to bare bones before he uses you as footstool. I challenge everybody who disagrees with me to read the account of the imprisonment of the late Dr. J. B. Danquah as reported in the DAILY GUIDE of Saturday, March 25, 2917 at page 4 as recounted by A.R. Gomda and you will curse yourself that you were born in this jungle called home. The Vagabonds-in-Power (VIPs) treat the Poor Innocent Victims (PIVs) they enslave with contempt and animal cruelty.
The criminals who have enslaved the masses and plundered the resources of the nation must be caged. What this country needs right now is the construction of a maximum security prison in the Afram Plains where all the greedy bastards in society should be imprisoned and made to cultivate foodstuffs and rear cattle for the export market to pay the nation’s debts. The assets of the criminals who have used public office to amass wealth should be confiscated to the state and the criminals put in prison and their names and sentences published in the media. We should direct the vultures to gather and circle in the skies waiting for the rotten carcasses of the greedy bastards. A new Ministry for Prisons, Rehabilitation and Reformation should be established alongside the Office of the Independent Prosecutor and all criminals named, shamed, jailed and their assets confiscated. That is the only way to clean the society and that is the only way to restore faith, hope and love in the people.
The information from the grapevine clearly indicates that should this country establish an Independent Prosecutor many of the people who have been at the helm of affairs in many of the nation’s institutions and their accomplices will find themselves in prison sooner than later where they are likely to celebrate their next birthdays. Most of these criminals are highly educated and belong to the cream of the educated elite and very often parade themselves like peacocks with the prefixes like: “His Excellency”, “First Lady”, “Honourable”, “Chief”, Professor”, “Doctor”, “Presiding Clergy”, “elder”. “Alhaji”, “Rtd. General” among other such high exulted titles to their names. That is why many well-meaning Ghanaians have doubts whether the Akufo Addo NPP administration can actually cage them. Ghana indeed needs Lee Kuan Yew. I pause for my breath.
By Kwame Gyasi