Yes! We Need Change

*Change does not roll on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle. We must straighten our backs and work for freedom. A man cannot ride you unless your back is bent. So says Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King JNR. A civil rights activist in the 1960s.*

Indeed, anyone can yearn and cry for change by just opening the mouth but how many really are ready for change. How many are ready to lay their hand to the plough of change without looking back?

Since independence, Ghanaians keep on crying and yearning for change. Right from 1957 till date there has not been shortage of Political change in the history of Ghana.

A flashback to the past shows that the Nkrumah-led-administration was marred by some acts of corruptions. A leading member of Nkrumah’s convention People’s Party (CPP), Krobo Edusei told the Akpaloo commission in Accra that “in 1958,Nkrumah, (the hero of Ghana) called the Cabinet and directed that henceforth a commission ranging from five to ten percent should be charged on all contracts."

No sooner had they started performing than the vibrant National Liberation Council (NLC) showed its ugly head in the political arena of Ghana. Nkrumah was seriously lacerated for engaging in some serious acts of fraud and corruption only for the NLC's leader, been General J.A. Ankrah to also confess openly later in the Nzeribe case that he accepted bribe which led to his exit from leadership.

Once again, the cry for change never stopped there. The ever-exuberant Col. Kutu Acheampong and his men, with the speed of a cheetah and destructive instincts of an elephant also chased Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia and the Progress Party officials out of power. Dr. Busia is also not eliminated from the lists of corrupt state officials since February 9, 1972 edition of the Daily Graphic had news on investigations which linked Busia and Afrifa to corrupt business deals.Busia, upon been given an invitation in 1972 by Col. Acheampong to face some corruption charges failed to show up.

There is no way I will talk of I.K Acheampong without considering what he was hilariously known for. He was nicknamed by most people as “fa wo to begye Golf”’ since according to them, he had an insatiable desire for that part of womanhood which almost rhymes with “virginia”. Acheampong who accused Busia of corruption, was also accused by his own men for been corrupt and autocratic for that matter, he was asked to resign his post.

At this point of the nation’s political history, another change was needed since it was on record that the previous governments were characterized by serious forms of corruptions and mismanagement of the country’s resources.

Amidst these crises and political unrest, rose a supposed Messiah of the nation, Jerry Rawlings. Papa Jerry, as affectionately called by many, responded to the powerful call of “let the blood flow” for that matter, he killed Afrifa, Acheampong and Akuffo accusing them of sucking Ghana dry.

But can we boldly claim that the Rawlings-led-administration was corruption-free-administration? Well, it ensured probity and accountability which is of no doubt. But, before the 2000 General Elections, it is recorded that the New Patriotic Party accused the Rawlings-led-administration of serious corruption and mismanagement of national resources and promised to deal with this canker when elected.

There was the need for another change so Mr. Agyekum Kuffour was elected. With the joy of a student who has just been liberated from a long day’s lecture, Kuffour set in office fully ready and fortified to fight corruption only for him to realize that corruption was as old and strong as the bed of a prostitute at Kwame Nkrumah Circle. He offered his quota in fighting corruption. But, the 2009 audit report revealed that up to 60 billion cedis of the tax payer’s money was used to fund a so called communication strategy which everyone knows that it was only a Euphemism for siphoning the national Cake into their campaign trail.

The citizens of Ghana are never tired of crying for change therefore,

there was another outcry for change for that matter, the National Democratic Party was voted into power. There is no shortage of incidents of change in the country’s politics since the political parties always try to pride themselves as “smaller thieves” and their opponents as “big-time thieves”.

The hunger for another change by the Ghanaian populace led to the election of the Mahama-led-administration into the helm of affairs after the demise of the late President Mills. This government is commended for its monumental projects all over the country, ranging from the construction of roads, the building of schools and markets. I can’t forget the most recent action of interchange taking place in the country. Making mention of the Kwame Nkrumah interchange which has been the talk of the nation for some time now.

But what every layman will never be happy of about this government is its inability to create employment for the citizens. It’s also characterized by some issues of serious corruption ranging from the 51.2 billion paid to Alfred Agbesi Wayome, the Brazil 2014 fiasco, the GYEEDA and SADA scandal as revealed by one Manasseh Azure of Joy Fm, the Metro Mass branding scandal, among many others. I can go on and on until the cows come home but any further instances will only be considered as propaganda by some parties.

One is able to see that change is never alien to the people of Ghana since we always encounter that in the change of government every four years.

*WHAT|'S THE WAY FORWARD?*
But I still reiterate my claim that “we need change in this year’s elections”. The question to ask is "what sort of change do we need as a nation?" Should it always be based on a transition of government from one party to another party? Are we to always vote by comparing the political parties and then give the mandate to a lesser thief? Well, a change and a reformation is seriously needed. A change, where the electorate will desist from the old way of taking a mini-bag of “uncle sam” rice from Aspirants. If you are able to live for a lifetime without a mini-bag of rice, what makes you think that you will die if you reject it for a day? This should tell you that you are intentionally been left to starve such that one begins to salivate at the mere aroma of food. If you have lived all these years without these bags of rice, then trust me, you can forever live without it. What then will one eat after elections?

A change is needed, a change where the electorate will not keep their mode of voting on "Auto-pilot”. I mean to say that we need a change where the electorate will come to the awareness that they are not obliged to solely vote for one political party because it has been the party of their great grandparents even if the party is off track. This is the change we need and this is the change we all deserve-as good citizens of our country. It is quite pathetic how a person struggling to make ends meet in an unfriendly Economy will still be tied to the apron-strings of particular party all because he or she was born into it.

I still hold firm to my view that our nation needs change. A change is needed on the part of the political officials. Change where the political officials will only not identify themselves with the people when they need power. A change where they will still identify themselves with the peasant farmer who is using mud as water at the village. Certain unmotorable roads become motorable to the political officials only when they seriously need those at the deprived areas in order to climb the political ladder. Some of these roads are in a deplorable state and hardly traversed by motor vehicle. Since that is the only opportunity for people in these deprived areas to have an encounter with these political officials, they therefore welcome them with a sparkling smile. I am talking of deprived areas like my village. But the change we need is not a transition of government but a change in character of our political officials. There are certain places that most political officials will never visit after election. The only excuse that they can give is that they have been busy with state affairs. How can a president be busy to the detriment of his own citizens but will be less busy when he needs their support? A change is needed.

A change is needed on the part of the electorate. A change where the educated electorate will desist from the habit of been an educated illiterate by reading political parties’ manifestoes before voting for them. The only way to hold a political party responsible is through its manifestoe but not through what they say on those platforms when soliciting for our votes. A change where the electorate will vote according to the feasibility of policies by assessing the various political parties’ manifestoes and not according to mere physique and tribal bases. These trivial issues never bring development in a nation.

A change is seriously needed. A change, where the electorate will be conscious of the fact that there is no magic in the ballot box. You cannot vote for a dullard and expect the ballot box to change him to a genius through some sort of abracadabra. Not even the heavens will grant us that favour as a nation. Likewise one cannot buy a motor king and expect it to behave like Range Rover. The bitter truth is that a “ motor king” will always remain a motor king for Range Rover to remain a Range Rover. For that matter, a dullard will always remain a dullard when even elected. The ballot box doesn’t perform any magical surgery on the brains of any aspirant. A person does not become a repository of knowledge if elected as president and for that matter should always solicit views from experts concerning certain issues.

That very attitude of “vote for him because he is our brother” is what has led to “set him free because he is our own thief”. Greed has become their creed. This change is necessary because our nation has that awkward attitude of demonizing its saints and canonizing its thieves. I do not come to you as a soothsayer neither do I have the foresight of a Jewish prophet but it is crystal clear that our nation will continue to wallow in the vicious cycle of poverty and mismanagement of resources if we are only concern with a mere change in government every four years to elect a lesser thief rather than a complete change in our character as electorate and government officials. Yes! A change of character is needed on my part, on the part of the of our politicians and on the part of every citizen.

Anytime there is a battle between the mind and the thumbs, there is either a positive or a negative outcome. In taking this decision on December 7 , the mind should not battle with the thumb. But the mind should reason critically for the thumb to make the endorsement. Your thumb is your voice and your power therefore use it carefully. Together, we can have that beautiful Ghana we have been dreaming of all these years.

Elvis Effah
Student of UCC