Democracy: When you chop, chop big - Enimil Ashon writes
None of the politically connected persons accused of corruption under ‘Operation Recover All Loot’ (ORAL) has been convicted, so one has to be careful in our commentary.
I will not be tempted even by the Attorney General’s disclosures concerning some of the accused persons who, he says, have approached his office seeking a possible settlement.
My piece today is a lamentation on how the democracy we have chosen to govern ourselves by in the Fourth Republic makes criminals of political appointees.
Going by their names, all of the appointees are either Christians or Muslims.
At their vetting, they swore on the Bible, the Quran or the Cross.
They don’t miss church or mosque unless out of the country.
So why do they bleed the country?
Appointees, especially CEOs of state enterprises, know that they are not likely to be in office beyond eight years (maximum).
From experience since 1992, they recognise that once out of office, it is difficult to come by sweetheart deals.
So they decide: if they must chop, they will chop big enough to take care of themselves in the next eight years of “famine”.
In a justice system where cases can outlast the term of an incumbent party or President, all one needs is a clever lawyer who can secure adjournments, appeal decisions to higher courts, Human Rights Court or ECOWAS Court.
By four years (minimum) or eight years, the case will still be nowhere near resolution.
Governments change and new Attorneys General arrive to file nolle prosequi.
We have the example of Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, former CEO of COCOBOD.
His case began in 2018. In January 2025, after nearly seven years of trial, the new Attorney-General filed a nolle prosequi, withdrawing all 27 charges.
In 2017, under Akufo-Addo’s NPP, members of the pro-government vigilante group, Delta Force, were charged with storming a Kumasi Circuit Court to free their colleagues.
The Attorney-General entered a nolle prosequi, discontinuing the case.
Assured by this judicial history and political fiats, this country has seen politicians who, while in office, were (are) putting up mansions (not houses).
The masons and contractors were (are) at work 24 hours, including under floodlight.
Honest lamb
The only honest lamb in the pack was Victoria Hammah, former Deputy Communication Minister. In 2014, she voiced her “vision” to a friend that she was in politics to make a million dollars. President Mahama fired her instantly. Facebook crowned her “Africa’s craziest politician”.
I disagreed with everybody. Victoria was only voicing what every Ghanaian politician knew: that it was possible to make a million dollars by just being a politician.
In 2004, the ‘Ghanaian Chronicle’ reported that NDC party chair, Dr Obed Asamoah, had kept in his home moneys too much to count. Obed’s defence was that what he had done was not unknown in Ghana politics and that every party had someone who kept bulk physical cash at home “for emergency”.
By “emergency”, he rationalised that the party could not tell who would come looking for money at any time for party projects. The party needed to be instantly available.
By the latest account, corruption costs us US$5billion a year, which is double Ghana’s Foreign Direct Investment inflows: only three years ago, corruption stood at US$3 billion.
While appointees chopped with hands and feet, Akufo-Addo didn’t have enough money to complete Agenda 111.
President Mahama will need that money to do Big Push. The ‘Mahama Cares’ programme requires an estimated GH₵18.5 billion over its first five years.
The promised Women’s
Development Bank will need GH₵ 51.3million seed capital. His ‘Adwumawura’ and One Million Coders carry a combined estimated cost of GHS 18.86 billion.
Is any of these possible if one appointee decides to build a house overseas at a cost of US$200,000?
Novel
In Ayi Kwei Armah’s novel, ‘The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born’, the politician’s wife scolds her husband NOT for being corrupt, but for being small in his corruption. Her advice was essentially: if you must steal, then steal big. Ayi Kwei was mirroring political corruption in the 1960s.
We are in 2026. Can none of our Presidents put in place a system that can cause us to fear corruption? Kutu Acheampong was not corrupt but he was weak, so his appointees stole with reckless abandon.
President Kufuor introduced the Public Procurement Act (2003), the Financial Administration Act (2003), and created the Internal Audit Agency. Unfortunately, he bowed to pressure to store money for his party to prosecute the next election.
Kwame Nkrumah came up with ‘One man one car’ for his appointees.
And it worked. Because of Nkrumah’s vigilance, one of his Ministers refused to allow his wife to buy a golden bed on her visit to the UK.
Is there no hope? In his compilation of ‘TIME 100 Tribute’, American Rick Warren, founder of Saddleback Church of California, said that “Rwanda is one of the few countries where I’ve never been asked for a bribe”. What a testimony!
The writer is the Executive Director, Centre for Communication and Culture.
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