A Distressing Dilemma

The issue of trust, at least, in African politics has become quite contentious, as both rural and urban communities have been adversely affected by the politician's grandiose disregard for the plight of the ordinary African. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for people to say: “Our politicians are not trustworthy”. And aren't those people right in putting it that way?

Gambetta tells us that, “When we say that we trust someone or that someone is trustworthy, we implicitly mean that the probability that he will perform an action that is beneficial, or at least not detrimental to us, is high enough for us to consider engaging in some form of cooperation with him”.

That is, the belief that an individual can perform an action that will be beneficial, but not detrimental, to the citizens of a country is what makes them trust such an individual as to want to entrust the affairs of the country in his hands by voting for him (and his political party) to be the leader of that particular country.

In consonance with its modernity tenets, it is institutionalised in Ghana that an individual has to convince the masses in his political campaign why he deserves their trust; and why they should vote for him/her. Along the thought of improving the development of our human capital base, an issue which cropped up as run-in to the 2012 elections is the Free Senior High School (SHS). While Nana Akufo-Addo (and the NPP) was busily propagating the gospel according to the Free SHS as a propitious policy, His Excellency John Mahama (and the NDC) was debunking all the advantages associated with it, correctly citing problems countries such as Kenya and Botswana, that implemented that policy have been saddled with in the last couple of years.

As the Free SHS din went on, with a man of God renowned for his tremendous erudition facing an angry backlash from some Ghanaians, I got fascinated by its denouement. At last it was over, and His Excellency John Mahama (and NDC) won the trust of Ghanaians and was voted as the president, making me believe that the good people of Ghana detest Free SHS. My belief was reinforced with such posts describing its “demise” on Facebook as, “Free SHS egbo” and “Free SHS yaamutu”. As someone who loves Ga and Hausa, I really enjoyed reading them. But little did I know that the dead Free SHS would resurrect in no time. Perhaps the resurrection of “Je-SHS”!

It would be intellectually dishonest on my part to say it is wrong to implement a good policy because a different party first drew the attention of the populace to it. Thus, I see nothing wrong with the NDC embracing a policy that will be beneficial to Ghana, after all, we sometimes say, “Ghana first”, although our politicians do put their interests first. However, I am not sure of the genesis of His Excellency John Mahama's sudden interest in the Free SHS, which he earlier condemned with iridescent gusto, creating the impression that implementing it would be more akin to opening a Pandora's box than a benign attempt of improving the development of the human capital of Ghana. So what went magnificently right? Or is it, what went horribly wrong?

What a day for Sir Kwabena Nnyeh! Forget about his name. He is not as bad as his name suggests – at least, he cares about his motherland. Having finished titivating his bearded face, with the help of an old but snazzy mirror, he remains glued to his bed in a supine position that can be likened to an ancient Egyptian mummy on display in a museum.

Deeply distressed, he keeps thinking about, on the one hand, the NPP (and Nana Akufo-Addo) who wanted to implement a policy despite all the problems associated with it, as a result of which it was vociferously opposed by His Excellency President John Mahama and his party, and on the other hand, the same NDC (and His Excellency John Mahama) who now wants to implement what it earlier kicked against because of the innumerable problems the policy squirts.

Based on Gambetta's perspective on trust, he earlier believed His Excellency John Mahama was trustworthy enough to perform an action which is beneficial or at least, not detrimental to Ghanaians, especially when he correctly enumerated countries that have not benefited from the policy in Africa.

What about now? While Sir Kwabena Nnyeh is now convinced of the authenticity of the assertion: “Ghanaian politicians are inexplicably complicated and unpredictable” (Ebo Yaa Dwomo, philosopher), he is not sure of who is deserving of his trust. As he keeps staring at his ceiling, he keeps vacillating between NPP/NAA, who wanted to implement the “problematic” Free SHS, and NDC/HEJM, who branded the policy “problematic”, but now wants to implement it. So, who should he trust?

Richard Kwabena Aboagye-Gyan