What is going on in Ghana Inc.?
Posted by By Akogun Akomolafe at 21 February, at 11 : 27 AM Print
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It was just two short months ago that Ghanaians danced on the streets to welcome the new government.
Disobeying all the traffic rules and regulations, victorious partisans of the wining party took over our major roads to do what we know best: dance ourselves silly at the least opportunity.
That the elections were marred by disturbing irregularities were not sufficient reasons for some not to enjoy themselves.
Today, the land looks desolate.
I cannot remember the last time I saw Ghana in this sorry state!
Two of life’s basics – water and electricity are in short supply.
The prices of foodstuffs are in the stratosphere.
And, please let no one throw darts into my eyes with stupid figures of declining inflation – the prices of almost everything I buy has shot up drastically.
The cost of living is, literally and figuratively, killing me.
As though the burden is not heavy enough to carry, the government, in its infinite wisdom, increased the prices of fuel, once again very drastically.
The prices of gas was increased by a whopping 50%.
Please, please let no one tell me about world prices, blah, blah blah.
I know that prices of goods fluctuates and can rise, what I do not understand is why a government will decide to increase the price of a commodity by 50% at one go!
No, it is not done!
What is sensible is to make gradual increments so that citizens will hardly notice.
I have never use this column for personal complaint and I’m not about to start, but I will call on those in authority to gear up their acts.
Let no one deceive herself that things are well with us. Let no one engage in any stupid propaganda about the state of our national affairs: things are simply not well.
And I’m being very moderate in my choices of words.
It is sad to visit our national capital, Accra, and see human beings dodging traffic with heavy loads of jerry cans of water on their head.
Come on, guys, this is the year 2013!
Many societies left this type of primitive situations behind two centuries ago!
It is pathetic to, to say the least, that almost sixty after we started to self-govern ourselves, we still lack the ability to provide common, yes, common water for our people.
And we have normal, intelligent people going on the radio stations to try to justify this sad state of affairs.
The least I say about those empty block-heads the better.
I feel totally scandalized when I listened to officials of the water company telling us that the filters used in treating the water have broken down, and that it’d take several months to replace them.
Gosh!
Am I being too intelligent or are some people just plain STUPID?
It is a given that being mechanical gadgets, water filters are bound to break down.
It is simply the immutable laws of physics that anything mechanical will, sooner or later, break down.
This is where PLANNING comes into the equation.
I abhor physical violence, but I’m glad that I was not close to the dunce-head of official who come on the airwaves to make the silly ratiocinations.
What are our officials paid to do if not to stay in their opulent offices and draw up plans on how to get us basic services, and make sure that equipment are well-maintained and replaced as when due?
Why else do we remunerate them so handsomely?
Why else do we give them those big jeeps with which they drive us off the roads with their sirens?
As though that were not enough, another official from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was on JoyFM (Monday, February 18, 2013) to give the nauseating news that his outfit has not started load-shedding!
My part of Kasoa have been kept in darkness for two solid days and yet, an official of the company that collect my money every month, had the effrontery to come on air to tell us that we ain’t seen nothing yet.
And he got away with it!
What exactly is going on in the land?
What is it that makes it impossible for us to do what other human beings are, as a matter of routine, doing almost effortlessly – generate and distribute enough electricity for domestic and industrial use?
When I looked through my electricity bills, I discovered that the prices has been increased over 400% over the last few years.
Almost yearly, the electricity asked for and get permission to increase their tariffs. We lodge our ineffectual complains but they get their way with promises that services will improve.
The authority charged with ensuring that the service providers keep their part of the bargain, the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) is effeminate to the point of uselessness.
I even listened to one PURC official on the radio the other day pathetically threatening hell and brimstone. The reporter failed to ask the moron why threaten when you have the power to act?
Why didn’t the PURC simply sanction one of the utility providers to jolt them out of their somnambulism, rather than coming on the air with ubber stupid nonsensical effusions?
I don’t know by what magic it is accomplished, but I also discover that I pay almost the same bill every month, irrespective of whether or not I was supplied with electricity!
I honestly would not mind very much how much the ECG charge me, as long as they can provide me with the electricity to earn my living, pay my bill and cater for my family.
Which brings us to the point I made recently about the pointlessness of the president traveling abroad to canvas for investors.
I meant well, but it appears that many people did not take kindly to my telling the president to stop wasting his time by travelling abroad to woo investors.
Many did not understand the reason I adduced for advising the president to stop wasting his (our) money, time and energy on foreign forays that will not yield any positive results.
Of course, the foreigners will welcome our president with wide smiles and high protocol, but that would be that.
They will exchange the normal banter, make the necessary noises but will they ask themselves why we lack the intelligence to see the stupidity of our forays.
The countries our leaders begged for direct investments all have embassies or high commissions in our country.
The officials at these foreign missions are paid to keep their eyes and ears firmly on the ground and appraise their governments on the state of affairs in our dear republic.
We may have a penchant for celebrating, deluding and praising ourselves to high heavens, but these foreigners will tell their governments nothing but the unalloyed truth.
They will tell about how our menfolk, womenfolk and children wake up at dawn with jerry cans and other containers to search for water.
They will tell about how we mindlessly broke our electricity company into three incoherent parts, with none of them able to tell us who is responsible for what.
They will tell about how the generation and distribution of electricity remains a major production in our dear land, despite all our boastful chest-beating and all that.
They will tell about the long queue for gas, even when we celebrate ourselves as the Gateway to Africa.
They will relate how we foolishly signed agreements that make foreign companies cart our oil away in crude form, only for us to import refined petroleum products, whilst our only refinery is deprived of crude oil.
They will tell about how we continue to destroy our environment by our using trees as fuel for cooking in the year 2013.
They will tell about the innumerable big, big jeeps on our barely motorable roads.
They will tell about how our big men us off roads with their sirens.
The envoys will tell their government how profligate we are, and how we do not spare any efforts when it comes to making our officials comfortable.
They will tell about how we maintain the most expensive type of government money can buy.
They will recount how the executive branch of our government hiked their pay and back-dated it?
They will relate how we increased the number of our legislators (even though none of them have introduce a single private member bill since the dawn of history), give them US$50,000 for car loan (even though they all already own cars); and another 50,000 cedis as house allowance, even though they all own houses in Accra.
The legates will tell about the general indiscipline in our land.
They will tell about how, in the name of freedom, our people break any and all laws, and get away with it.
Honestly, I think we all should feel terribly scandalized by the current state of affairs in our beloved republic.
How on earth did we get to the point whereby two of life’s basic – water and light, come to be in short supply in this age and time in our country?
We ought to be outraged when people we pay handsomely to do a job come out to give us pathetically silly excuses on why the jobs are not being done.
We ought to feel ashamed to see our country reduced to this level by sheer incompetence of officials.
It is time we tell our elite that we are thoroughly fed us with their poor performance.
We should make them know that we feel terribly let down.
About the Author
Femi Akomolafe is a passionate Pan-Africanist. A columnist for the Accra-based Daily Dispatch newspaper and Correspondent for the New African magazine. Femi lives in both Europe and Africa, and writes regularly on Africa-related issues for various newspapers and magazines.
Femi was the producer of the FOCUS ON AFRICANS TV Interview programme for the MultiTV Station.
He is also the CEO of Alaye Dot Biz Limited Dot Biz, a Kasoa-based Multimedia organisation that specialises in Audio and Video Production. He loves to shoot and edit video documentaries.
His highly-acclaimed books (“Africa: Destroyed by the gods,” “Africa: It shall be well,” “18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories” and “Ghana: Basic Facts + More”) are now available for sales at the following bookshops/offices:
- Freedom Bookshop, near Apollo Theatre, Accra.
- The Daily Dispatch Office, Labone – Accra
- WEB Dubois Pan-African Centre, Accra
- Ghana Writers Association office, PAWA House, Roman Ridge, Accra.
- African Kitchen in Amsterdam Bijlmer
Where to buy them online:
On Lulu Books:
18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories https://goo.gl/Skohtn
Ghana: Basic Facts + More: https://goo.gl/73ni99
Africa: Destroyed by the gods: https://goo.gl/HHmFfr
Africa: It shall be well: https://goo.gl/KIMcIm
Africa: it shall be well
on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4820404
on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/QeFxbl
on Lulu Books: https://goo.gl/SQeoKD
Africa: Destroyed by the gods
on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4811974
on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/1z97ND
on Lulu Books: http://goo.gl/KIMcIm
My Lulu Books page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FemiAkomolafe
Get free promotional materials here:
- Africa: it shall be well: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-introduction-in-pdf/
A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: It shall be well’ could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-a-free-chapter/
- Africa: Destroyed by the gods (How religiosity destroyed Africa) http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-introduction/
A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: Destroyed by the gods’ could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-free-chapter/
Contact Femi:
Femi’s Blog: www.alaye.biz/category/blog
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Kindly help me share the books’ links with your friends and, grin, please purchase your copies.
Comradely,
Femi Akomolafe
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