"All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."
That is a verse from the NIV Translation of the Christian Bible, the book of Psalms, chapter 14 verse 3.
Corruption in Ghana is deep. It is multi layered as well. Right now we are only dealing with the highest layer: overt corruption.
Overt corruption is easy to point out. It is directly misusing state resources for private gain. Private gain could be a personal Swiss bank account, or the promise of a seat on the Board of a company you have helped, or some other deed that solely benefits the officer in charge of applying the state resource. Mind you, state resources are not only cash based. They include mining concessions, business permits, land ... all things of value that by the constitution of Ghana have been vested in the Executive Government's control. We sit here everyday hearing complaints about teachers not being paid, nurses on strike and Doctors leaving the shores of Ghana, and yet week after week successive governments announce new billion Ghana Cedi projects, all to be funded by expensive loans, which in turn put more pressure on our meager public purse.
Overt corruption is just the the first layer of a deep-rooted cancer. There is also the corruption that comes from ineptitude. This is usually the child of overt corruption. This kind of corruption sees unqualified individuals given jobs such as Ministerial posts, executive positions in state institutions and board memberships. These individuals proceed to get duped by fast talking 'experts'. An example of this is this toxic Kelni GVG deal. Clearly, there is no need for it. Yet, due to the ineptitude of the individuals who took this decision, the deal is going through.
The next layer of corruption is tribal in nature. Certain groups of individuals who descend from distantly related branches of the same human family look on other individuals as being inferior to them. My people...well my parents' people the Asante-fo are at the top of this hierarchy, unfortunately. In private conversations, it is not uncommon to hear some kind of disparaging remarks about people from other tribes. My parents did well to shield me and my siblings from this type of thinking, and there are many others doing the same, yet this kind of thinking persists in society. This kind of corruption is old, and is one of the roots of the corruption we see today. One tribe wants to rule Ghana, and apply its resources to develop their hometowns; damned be the other 90 or so tribes or groupings that make up modern Ghana. Sadly this layer of corruption was introduced by the very people who brought us the Christian religion. It is interesting that the bible says a house divide against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25); the British rulers knew this fact very well, and proceeded to sow animosity among the people of Africa, selling guns to one tribe, then turning around and selling canons to the other. The wars that were fought by once peaceful neighbors have left scars that have been passed from generation to generation. I don't recall ever fighting a war against any tribe, so why should I hate any of them? Why should any of them hate me? I am not my father, nor was he his father's father. The old rules have been abolished so do not punish me for the sins of my great grandfather.
The real root of corruption is human nature, and it is the final layer. Christians call it sin. It is the self serving instinct that would lead a mother to kill her own child, as long as it satisfies that itch brought about by erratic signals in the brain. Our brains are wired to do one thing: encourage certain behavior in exchange for a mental reward. Dopamine, endorphin, serotonin and oxytocin: these are the four feel good chemicals that drive human behavior, according to the science books. Unfortunately many humans grow to get their taste of these chemicals from performing acts that injure others. It is the result of nurture, more than it is nature. Those of us that were raised by our parents to prize hard work and achievement over material wealth are evidence of this.
This is where those of us fortunate to be parents and guardians over young minds come in. I believe that if we are to solve corruption in Ghana, it has to start with them. Our generation has failed. Or more accurately, our generation has been failed. Many of our parents failed to pass on the necessary lessons to help us abhor and steer away from corruption. Those of us that do must pass it on to our children. Those who can should get the Ghana Education Service to add Anti-Corruption into lesson plans. Our children need to learn the dangers of corruption as early as possible. We should not just punish the corrupt practices they learn in school, such as cheating on a test or trading favors for exam questions and higher marks. We need to show how these things lead to hungry people living on the streets in abject poverty. We need to let that young man looking over his colleague's test answers know that taking the short cut will end up killing a small child many years down the road. When we drum this into the heads of the youth over the course of the 12 or so years of basic education they receive, we will should end up with at least 80-90% of them having the necessary will to stand against the 20-10% who, due to nature, are beyond hope. Then, and only then can we expect a change to take place in Ghana.
There is still hope for this country. As long as we still live, as long as things have not degenerated into chaos, Ghana can and will recover.
I just don't think my generation will be the ones to see it through.
Corruption in Ghana is deep. It is multi layered as well. Right now we are only dealing with the highest layer: overt corruption.
Overt corruption is easy to point out. It is directly misusing state resources for private gain. Private gain could be a personal Swiss bank account, or the promise of a seat on the Board of a company you have helped, or some other deed that solely benefits the officer in charge of applying the state resource. Mind you, state resources are not only cash based. They include mining concessions, business permits, land ... all things of value that by the constitution of Ghana have been vested in the Executive Government's control. We sit here everyday hearing complaints about teachers not being paid, nurses on strike and Doctors leaving the shores of Ghana, and yet week after week successive governments announce new billion Ghana Cedi projects, all to be funded by expensive loans, which in turn put more pressure on our meager public purse.
Overt corruption is just the the first layer of a deep-rooted cancer. There is also the corruption that comes from ineptitude. This is usually the child of overt corruption. This kind of corruption sees unqualified individuals given jobs such as Ministerial posts, executive positions in state institutions and board memberships. These individuals proceed to get duped by fast talking 'experts'. An example of this is this toxic Kelni GVG deal. Clearly, there is no need for it. Yet, due to the ineptitude of the individuals who took this decision, the deal is going through.
The next layer of corruption is tribal in nature. Certain groups of individuals who descend from distantly related branches of the same human family look on other individuals as being inferior to them. My people...well my parents' people the Asante-fo are at the top of this hierarchy, unfortunately. In private conversations, it is not uncommon to hear some kind of disparaging remarks about people from other tribes. My parents did well to shield me and my siblings from this type of thinking, and there are many others doing the same, yet this kind of thinking persists in society. This kind of corruption is old, and is one of the roots of the corruption we see today. One tribe wants to rule Ghana, and apply its resources to develop their hometowns; damned be the other 90 or so tribes or groupings that make up modern Ghana. Sadly this layer of corruption was introduced by the very people who brought us the Christian religion. It is interesting that the bible says a house divide against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25); the British rulers knew this fact very well, and proceeded to sow animosity among the people of Africa, selling guns to one tribe, then turning around and selling canons to the other. The wars that were fought by once peaceful neighbors have left scars that have been passed from generation to generation. I don't recall ever fighting a war against any tribe, so why should I hate any of them? Why should any of them hate me? I am not my father, nor was he his father's father. The old rules have been abolished so do not punish me for the sins of my great grandfather.
The real root of corruption is human nature, and it is the final layer. Christians call it sin. It is the self serving instinct that would lead a mother to kill her own child, as long as it satisfies that itch brought about by erratic signals in the brain. Our brains are wired to do one thing: encourage certain behavior in exchange for a mental reward. Dopamine, endorphin, serotonin and oxytocin: these are the four feel good chemicals that drive human behavior, according to the science books. Unfortunately many humans grow to get their taste of these chemicals from performing acts that injure others. It is the result of nurture, more than it is nature. Those of us that were raised by our parents to prize hard work and achievement over material wealth are evidence of this.
This is where those of us fortunate to be parents and guardians over young minds come in. I believe that if we are to solve corruption in Ghana, it has to start with them. Our generation has failed. Or more accurately, our generation has been failed. Many of our parents failed to pass on the necessary lessons to help us abhor and steer away from corruption. Those of us that do must pass it on to our children. Those who can should get the Ghana Education Service to add Anti-Corruption into lesson plans. Our children need to learn the dangers of corruption as early as possible. We should not just punish the corrupt practices they learn in school, such as cheating on a test or trading favors for exam questions and higher marks. We need to show how these things lead to hungry people living on the streets in abject poverty. We need to let that young man looking over his colleague's test answers know that taking the short cut will end up killing a small child many years down the road. When we drum this into the heads of the youth over the course of the 12 or so years of basic education they receive, we will should end up with at least 80-90% of them having the necessary will to stand against the 20-10% who, due to nature, are beyond hope. Then, and only then can we expect a change to take place in Ghana.
There is still hope for this country. As long as we still live, as long as things have not degenerated into chaos, Ghana can and will recover.
I just don't think my generation will be the ones to see it through.
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