The Burden of Ghana's Revolution
Kojo Smith
The major objective of this second coming as could be gleamed from statements that have so far been made was to clean up Ghanaian society from all sorts of vices that have eaten deep into its fabric. It is more or less a continuation of the 1979 moral crusade "house cleaning exercise." Just one of the present tribunals established to deal with malpractices is adequate proof of this fact.
During that period of four months in the first coming of Rawlings, extreme measures were taken to purge the whole top military hierarchy with devastating consequences leading to the execution of eight Generals including three former Heads of State.
A majority of senior officers in the Armed Forces were also thrown into jails as well as some civilian collaborators of the officers. But at this point in time the question which agitates my mind is: how morally clean are the cleaners when their hands are dripping with the indelible blood of hundreds of innocent Ghanaians.
There is corruption in every country in the world but every civilized country has humane and less violent methods in dealing with this problem.At present another institution established to deal with some other aspects of malpractice is the Citizens Vetting Committee which has subjected hundreds of Ghanaian businessmen and women and especially some members of the Bar Association to harsh and severe penalty of fines and sometimes incarceration. For the first time in the nation's history, a burglar was executed all in the name of stamping out deviant vices in the society.
The other tribunal set up with the sole aim of suppressing the few who might be bold enough to challenge the status quo has largely achieved its objective by sentencing people to death some of them have already 'been killed while several others who managed to escape have the death penalty or other long prison sentences hanging over their heads.
Despite these unprecedented brutal and savage measures there is abundant evidence that the attitude of most Ghanaians has not altered in the least-a clear indication that these violent measures have tragically failed.
Yet strangely enough Ghanaians have not been. able to shake. themselves from their present slumber to vehemently oppose this uncivilised trend of affairs.
One can state without any trepidation or fear of contradictions that every Ghanaian has contributed somehow to the present situation. The catalogue of malpractices speaks for itself.
Soldiers in power had favoured their business collaborators and girlfriends with unmerited import licences to the detriment of the nation.
Most businessmen have been involved in all kinds of malpractices, especially over-invoicing of imports in order to extort maximum profits in both local and foreign currencies, while at the same time under invoicing to deflate tax responsibilities. Managers and salesmen have diverted millions of goods meant for their fellow Ghanaians.
Market women in collusion with sales managers have sold goods to the ordinary Ghanaian at kalabule prices thus making life unbearable for him. Many selected politicians often disappointed their electors because of their selfish attitudes and not caring enough for the general welfare of the people.
Top civil servants have often indulged in corrupt practices usually colluding with local and foreign businessmen. Some professionals in government employment used Government time and materials to attend to private clients, while others charged exorbitant fees. The list is endless.
I still have in my possession hundreds of anonymous letters written to the AFRC in June, 1979
about Ghanaians in various positions with frightening allegations and had I not kept these letters, most of those involved would have been languishing in jail today - without proper or fair trial.
There is no doubt that there is a need for a remedy to change these bad attitudes of Ghanaians. But in the same stretch it has to be admitted that human nature and attitudes cannot be changed through excessive violence. Afterall to err is human and any human being who does not err certainly does not belong to this earth. The Bible tells us that "if we say we have no sins we deceive ourselves and there is no truth in us.”
As the present regime should be aware by now, the applied methods have failed so far to make any significant impact. Today in Ghana people are daring enough to sell a gallon of petrol for €599 and kalabule is thriving better than before.
Those vices are not peculiar to Ghana alone. There is corruption in every country in the world but every civilised country has humane and less violent methods in dealing with this problem. Ghanaians are a civilised and long suffering people who do not deserve to be treated violently or in a rough-handed manner.
It should be obvious that the vices that have engulfed the society presently have come about mostly as a result of economic and social conditions that have persistently plagued the country since 1864. I can vividly remember that as a student journalist at shortages never experienced before the time suddenly descended on the country.
Queues for all commodities began to grow longer and longer. sorts of unfortunate consequences were that The natural but hoarding began and kalabule then reared its ugly head. This trend has never been stopped or reversed. It has on the other hand entrenched itself in all aspects of Ghanaian life and has acquired a notoriety beyond all proportions and comprehension.
What needs to be done now is to allow the people of Ghana to choose the system under which they prefer to be governed, for after all it is the inalienable right of the people of every nation to decide who shall rule them and how they shall be governed.
There is no point in hanging on to power when there is such widespread discontent of the government of the country. In all seriousness Rawlings' second coming is a PLAGUE for the whole nation. This time he has bitten off more than he can chew. A reckless misadventure which has cost the nation dearer. The people of Ghana are undergoing a suffering they have never endured before in any of the worse regimes that have ruled the country. There appears to be apparent calm at the moment, but under the surface the temperature is reaching boiling and explosive point.
In the name of Almighty God I pray that Rawlings and his comrades will spare Ghanaians from further sufferings and wanton destruction of human lives and from the inferno that will inevitably engulf the whole country. If the PNDC cannot find its way to handing over power to a National Interim Government it could save its face by conducting a national referendum to establish whether the people of Ghana really prefer its style of Government.
The author was one of the first people called by Flt-Lt Rawlings to help him run his government in June 1979. He is currently in exile in London
