It will take a radical party that is unwaveringly patriotic for Ghana to see responsible leadership
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are organically cancerous to Ghana's sovereignty and development. I believe the criteria we will use to scrutinise the patriotism of the teacher in the classroom will be different from the expectation of a black star player and so must it differ in the actions of the individuals who rule this nation.
For the classroom teachers, the commitment to instilling patriotism in their students and the efforts they will put in educating the Ghanaian students may be key. For a black star player, the sacrifice they make on the soccer pitch, and the effort they make when they represent the nation will be good enough to measure their patriotism.
Likewise, the effort and commitments the leadership of this nation put into building this nation will be the criteria to determine whether they are patriotic or otherwise. So in the Marxist conception of ‘from each according to their ability and the biblical concept that to whom much is given, much is expected, we can come to terms with using different measurement scales to assess patriotism.
In fact, building this nation would mean that every citizen must contribute in their individual way and capacity to make Ghana a great nation. It will mean that every citizen must meet their expectations and so must the ruling party.
Why the lecture on patriotism?
The mishandling of the political offices of this nation has seen a repetitive pattern among the major parties in Ghana. There seems to be the constant formulation of policies that lead this nation to the mud.
Was Kwame Nkrumah wrong when he said the black man is capable of managing his own affairs or we are just cursed with a bunch of reactionary unpatriotic leadership? The failures of this nation are enough evidence to first establish that these ruling parties do not serve Ghana, thus, are unpatriotic bodies and enemies to the national interest.
Political parties have become the leading investment firms in Ghana, where all major resources are channelled into, and the loyalty to this nation suffers from this unfortunate phenomenon. Year after year, we observe malicious policies embarked on by ruling governments in Ghana.
We observe sudden micro-minded economic policies and directives. Among others, we can recall the divestiture policies, deliberate currency depreciation policies under the NDC; which the NPP government made little effort to correct and in fact worsened the cedi value in President Akuffo Addo's term, when in fact they promised to arrest the dollar.
We can recall the signing away of our national resources under both ruling parties' leadership. The nation now holds less than 20% of its oil shares, less than 15% average shares in all the gold mines in the country, collapsed the indigenous industries, increasing indebtedness, heavily imports it needs, overly reliant on foreign aid, and reputable for corruption.
The average Ghanaian continues to wonder why these parties are able to determine laudable solutions to Ghana's problems and easily identify bad policies when in opposition but become abruptly a useless party when in the hem of affairs.
Patriotism versus profit
To me, the party and its leadership after spending so much to get to power come to face a sudden reality. They are faced with a conflict of interest upon the assumption of office. The party is faced with reviewing the article 71 officeholders and their privileges; to either scrape the bias clause or strengthen these privileges at the detriment of the national interest.
The ruling party is faced with rivaling all international powers who may be exploiting our nation ( market and natural resources) or compromising the sovereignty of this nation for aid and quick loans, the party is faced with protecting the national purse or allowing the party and it’s sponsors to dip their hands into them to be able to support the party again when the needs arise.
The party faces a problem; choosing between patriotism over profit. If you commit so much money into gaining power, will you pursue patriotic policies or you will pursue the policies that will ensure that you make up for your campaign losses along with profits that can keep you in the game of politics?
So to the average Ghanaian, a policy pursued by the government is obviously stupid but to the ruling party, it is not. It is all about being realistic with themselves in a political environment that hardly rewards patriotism.
The command over resources to manipulate the masses is far more rewarding than banking on good policies and party records for electorate support. For they have tested the politics in Ghana, and indeed Ghanaians do have a short memory; they will forget the ills of the party after eight years.
Investors first, to hell with Ghanaians
If we will recall the position of the NPP in opposition, in the words of Bawumia, overburdening the economy with taxes is counterproductive, yet the NPP government is now an architect of an e-levy that is supposed to be a smarter tax collection avenue. This particular policy failed in Rwanda, it has received wide condemnation but the government is bent on implementing it.
To me, while it is overburdening Ghanaians, it provides the revenue to be disposed of and as usual misappropriated. As the NPP is likely to leave power in 2024, it is best for the party to stock funds that are enough to keep them in their likely eight years in opposition, and the funds should still be enough to keep them alive in campaigns.
So the appointments are forms of party rewards regardless of the individual’s competence, policies channelling funds to so-called entrepreneurs go to party grass root supporters; the revelations of Manasseh Azure on Ghana youth employment and entrepreneurs Agency (Gyeeda) and Youth Employment Agency (YEA) suffice.
Contracts go to businessmen who are also party sponsors and I don’t have to remind you of the Ford Scandal, ECG and PDS deals, Jaspong group Scandals, and the many others to make this point. The party then is an investment firm, if you work hard for the party, if you fund the party and get acquainted with its leadership, your market boom comes with the party winning the election.
Once the party assumes office, the promises and wonderful policies become mere rhetoric. The realistic policies become those that strengthen the party and its finances. So you can shout to the reach the sky but prices of fuel(petroleum) will ever rise. The ex-gracias will in fact swell. It becomes rather a disturbance to such investment firms in power(ruling party) when the civil service is demanding pay raise. If we reflect on the UTAG strike, we will admit they have legitimate claims.
But such funds will reduce the limited revenue the party is looking forward to amassing, and besides it is too early to concede when the party is going to make such payment until 2024, such huge funds could have found their way into party hands before 2024. If the party is leaving power, the pay raise will be snappy, but for now, it is not good for the party.
If we can recall the arrears and pay raises the NDC quickly released right after losing the 2016 election it informs you that these parties are everything else excerpt patriots to mother Ghana. They are nation wreckers.
Party short term profit
The Ghanaian political environment suffers from these parties' profit-making motives. The NPP and NDC rather pursue policies that give cheap political gains and raise revenue for the party.
This explains why we have lost our national resources to foreign extraction companies because the time and work to invest in building processing industries is against party interest, this is why the ruling party always jubilate upon securing loans, this is why local industries collapse because the government is after ready cash that is readily provided by importers, thus, subsidizing local producers is against party interest.
This is why the government will procure products that can be contracted to genuine local producers but the kickbacks and thievery that can raise money for the party are more lucrative. This is why Ghana does not have a national development plan for there is a party plan that supersedes the national interest.
65 years broke nation is not a coincidence, we need a radical party
Party politics takes loyalty away from the nation to the party. This party's first loyalty makes the NPP and NDC an investment firm where all kinds of professionals, politicians, and Civil society leaders invest their time and resources hoping for a profitable return upon winning elections. The failure to build Ghana is only evidence of the unpatriotic nature of the two ruling parties who when given the opportunity stab Ghanaians, sell out the nation and loot from the remains.
If this nation will ever see a responsible leadership, it will take a radical party, a party that is unwaveringly patriotic and developmental, a party that is not monetized and owes allegiance to none but Ghanaians, one that can prosecute criminals in the government, one that is ready to pursue long-term policies in setting the foundations for national development.
This monetised political environment only breeds the treacherous leadership we continue to receive from the NPP and NDC. The nation is 65 and counting but the governance is like a five-month baby that knows only stomach and sleep. God save our homeland Ghana.