In Ghana today, you can’t buy anything to eat for less than GH¢5. This includes roasted plantain, boiled and roasted maize, and avocado pear as big (or small) as my fist. We have reached a point in our existence where something significant should have prompted us to change, much like what happened in 1979 when Rawlings took action against the state of affairs.
He became an instant hero because at his treason trial in 1978, the prosecution turned the accused’s defence into a manifesto. It was a playback of what had taken place in Cuba in 1953, when Fidel Castro made his two-hour defence titled, “La historia me absolvera” (Spanish) or “History Will Absolve Me” in court against charges brought against him after the Moncada Barracks attack.
That 1978 defence by Rawlings, a tirade against the unpopular military establishment at the time, was read in extenso to the people of Ghana, and the masses lapped at it. For the millions of Ghanaians, here was the saviour they had prayed for! When he broke jail, therefore, freed by junior officers in the Army in the June 4, 1979 Uprising, he rode the crest of popularity. He was “Junior Jesus”, and for good reason.
Which Ghanaian was not burdened under kalabule? As Makola queens reigned prices dictated by their own greed – young ladies with enough “bottom power” on stiletto high heeled shoes drove past in flashy cars. But after all the brutalities, killings and holy words, Rawlings proved no better than his predecessors, and even his successor, Dr Limann, whom he came back to boot out of office in December 1981.
By the end of his 19 years, the Rawlings chains on our necks were no less heavy. That is why Ghanaians, in 1992, voted as an expression of our vow to “never again” welcome a military coup, no matter how angry or hungry we would be. Through Rawlings, God taught us not to trust military rulers.
But our Fourth Republic politicians seem bent on forcing us to reverse our vow. Thirty-two years into our dance with so-termed democracy, the masses still cry, “Who shall deliver us from this bondage of suffering and hopelessness?”
This time, made more bitter by the impunity of politicians who have become delirious with power, drunk with money – and what money can buy, including high-rise apartments in Ghana, hotels in Dubai and duplexes in Europe and America.
Political and bureaucratic discretion has been put up for rent by people who have forgotten that Abacha and Mobutu felt likewise invincible in their wealth-grabbing spree. “To hell with the people. What can they do?” They forget – or don’t know – that as history absolved Castro, and is absolving Gadaffi, so will history judge all.
Perhaps we could have tolerated the impunity and corruption had our lives changed for the better, but apart from roads and bridges built with bailouts from IMF and World Bank, I ask: what have the people been led to achieve for ourselves?
You may ask me to forget about the likes of Dubai and Saudi Arabia because oil money has helped them. What about Malaysia and Singapore? They have taught that selfless, incorruptible leadership working with the competent, not family and friends, makes the difference.
My heroes of change are Libya under Gaddafi, China under Chairman Mao Zedong, Rwanda under Kegame and post-1971 Dubai under Sheikh Rashid ibn Saeed Al Maktoum. You may be right in asserting that their governments were or have been autocratic, but these Heads of State, if they had been as corrupt and greedy with family and friends, couldn’t have turned things around, even under dictatorship. Take Mobutu of Zaire and Sani Abacha of Nigeria.
My conclusion is this: it is the heart of the king, not the political system under which they rule, that makes the difference to the welfare of the people.
China, Dubai and Rwanda have demonstrated that politics is common sense – if the “sense” is not clouded by pressures to satisfy family, friends and party. I will cite only one example — China. From Deng Shiao Ping, most large Western technology companies were prevailed upon to set up R&D centres in Beijing, Shanghai etc., as precondition for the award of contracts from state companies. In obedience, Motorola invested US$300 million to set up 19 technology research centres in China and at a point, Microsoft Corp was employing over 200 Chinese indigenous researchers in Beijing.
What about Ghanaian leaders? By a system that pays politicians more than it pays educationists, researchers and genuine entrepreneurs, our leaders have led us to become selfish and greedy. The Ghanaian trader’s credo is that they must make all the money of their lifetime with just one consignment of goods. It is not inflation; it is not the exchange rate. The traders have one aspiration: to be on a par with politicians and foot soldiers.
By: Enimil Ashon
