Such is the level of indiscipline that Kofi Kinata goes behind the wheels soaked in alcohol, and cries to the Lord to come and take over the steer; and it becomes an instant hit. Awurade, begye stia no oo, na Awurade maabo oo…Drunk-driving as depicted by the songster is not a rarity in Ghana, but, commonplace; a norm actually. And, it is not new too. I remember unsuccessful presidential candidate, Victor Owusu, describing Ghana in 1980 or ’81 as a lawless country.
That earned him the irk of the then President, Sir Hilla Limann, and his People’s National Party, but, discerning minds at the time knew Kwabena Pie was telling the truth. The usual NDC/NPP polarisation took over the issue. At the time, it was Victor Owusu’s Popular Front Party (precursor of the NPP) and Limann’s PNP (which is now PNC, CPP etc.) Indiscipline is not from today: President Agyekum Kufuor was right in saying corruption is from early man Adam. What is inexcusable on our part as Ghanaians is that we do too little to minimise corruption; we tend to adore indiscipline. And, in life, you get more of the things you admire and reward; less of the things you abhor and punish.
More disasters
So it is that we keep on recording market fire after market fire; deadly floods after deadly floods; horrendous auto accident after accident; petrol tanker disaster on the highways after petrol tanker disaster; gas explosion at the selling point after gas explosion. I have bad news for you today, my cherished reader: the disasters aren’t going to stop. The disasters are going to continue, increase – worsen, in fact! Unless,.. No matter the tears shed by President Akufo-Addo and the assurances he has been given. No matter the fact that President Dramani Mahama rode a motorbike to inspect fuel stations after weeping behind dark goggles when the flood-and-fire disaster struck on June 03, 2015. Earlier editions of Ghana Today had catalogued a few of the disasters that predated the Kintampo Waterfalls calamity that happened March 19, this year. The usual grief expressed by officialdom; the usual denunciation of the crass irresponsibility that leads to the disasters; the usual admonition that people who happen to be at accident scenes should be commonsensesical to reduce deaths, injuries and loss of property. But, the tradition of colossal losses, gnashing of teeth, measly donation from NADMO and parties trying to make political capital out of the disasters continue; will continue…indefinitely.
Only solution
Unless the President cracks the whip. Unless his ministers crack the whip. Unless his MMDCEs crack the whip. Unless the Town and Country Planning officials being paid handsome Single Spine salaries stop taking bribes into the bargain, and, start cracking the whip. Unless party colour and membership stop being a special advantage and an insurance against the full rigours of the law. Pull down every erected structure in a waterway; that is the way to minimise the marauding floods. Pull down every structure raised under high-tension power cables. Destroy all the fuel stations at unsafe places. Mind you, you need to surcharge the owners for the destruction of their property; because, the demolition comes at a cost to the state. Those employees who issue permits for structures to be erected at unsafe places should no longer be protected as so-called anonymous civil or public servants. If you are not going to throw some of the crooks whose acts of omission and commission continue to plunge this dear nation of ours into the throes of death, the tradition will continue to continue.
No compromises
There should be no concessions; there should be no complicated legal arguments by utter rogues whose sole task is to oppose justice by disguising the truth. Ignore so-called alternative solutions, unless they are patently viable. I remember that when floods killed and destroyed at the Gbawe area of Accra in about 2007; when the then administration moved bulldozers to pull down structures in waterways there; not more than four buildings were mowed before the government called for a break. Soon, the joke of a suggestion came that very deep channels could be built under the structures to convey the floodwaters without the buildings being pulled down. Touch wood, but bigger disasters may be awaiting us in that area someday. For, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Fast-forward post-June 3rd, 2015. Minister of the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mahama Ayariga, took a platoon of eager news crews round Accra, threatening fire and brimstone on ALL fuel stations sited in waterways and other unsafe areas. End of story.
In today’s democracy and society, a lot of farce comes in the form of knowledge and from people in positions of responsibility. In the aftermath of the Madina gas explosion, I heard a senior official of the Environmental Protection Agency say on TV that there are no clear laws preventing the siting of fuel dumps at industrial, residential or crowded areas. That is bunkum! Doesn’t every prospective developer have to go to the same EPA for environmental impact assessment to determine whether it will be safe to allow their gas station or whatever to be where the developer wants it? There is this nonsense that, if you somehow manage to raise your building to lintel level, it cannot be pulled down. Some Town and Country Planning employees thus wink at developers to construct their buildings at the weekend when – in this country – civil servants don’t work. “Once you reach lintel level, nobody can pull it down; if they insist, you’ll be entitled to big compensation.”
I am not given to radicalism; but, this nation must be saved for generations unborn. After all, land belongs to a vast multitude of people, of who most are dead, a few are living and countless more remain unborn. This land has existed for uncountable millennia, if not for millions of years; over the last half-century, we have too much abused the land and its resources to be allowed to continue unfettered.
Resource destruction
Whenever we have loosened the rules, we’ve lost the game. From the 1970s, when someone introduced chainsaw machines into this country, illegal logging shot up through the roofs. Instead of dealing with the menace decisively, we tinkered with it, giving leeway to Forestry Department staff to take bribes from chainsaw operators: today, Ghana is fast becoming an arid country. Digging for gold at every imaginable place came into vogue just about 20 years ago and we’ve allowed food crops to be turned upside-down; rivers turned into Hausa koko or worse. This column is asking for neither a draconian regime nor a utopian state where everything is ideal. But, certainly, the way to lead a peaceful life as a nation; the way to assure continuity and sustainability of the next and subsequent generations is not to trudge on as if Ghana is – indeed – a lawless country.
The turning point
Can this President and this Government halt the half century of decay? Well, the fact that most before them failed does not strictly mean they too will fail. But it is incontrovertibly true that they have a tough, tough task ahead – if they really are bent on winning against indiscipline, corruption and other crimes that invariably result in hunger, disease, deprivation and disasters.
Do they need help? Tonnes of it! The general public should wake up to their responsibility. Do the right thing; hold me to do the right thing. Be a witness in court to get me answer for my misdeeds. I say I am not given to radicalism, but, we must retreat from the one-way traffic to doom we have set ourselves on. In that connection, Ghana Today endorses such acts as embarked on by students of the University of Professional Studies, Legon. If the local authorities allow a plant or fuel station to be located too dangerously close to you; if you use all available means to prevent it but you fail; aren’t you entitled to use ‘minimum force’ to kick away the damned sword of Damocles hanging around your neck?
Destroy ‘em all
In Ghana today, if you look at the destruction of rivers and the environment generally, the abuse of public office for self-gain, the unsafe estate development, the sprawling of fuel stations without recourse to safety measures, and the audacity that offenders marshal from the democratic environment; total destruction of all that have been wrongly established is the only viable solution. For safety; for deterrence. Short of total destruction, nothing can stop the onslaught of those aggressively foraging for money and power at the expense of society and future generations. Total destruction is the only solution. Apology: the late Robert Nester Marley.
Ghana Today
…with A. C. Ohene
