Friends at funerals, foes in Parliament
In Ghana, the only time National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) ministers and MPs make complimentary remarks about each other is when tributes are read at the other's funeral.
In the event of a war between Ghana and another country, supporters of the Minority party will fight on the enemy's side if Ghana’s defeat will win votes for the Minority.
I came to this conclusion after the E-levy brawl in the House when an MP's face was cut with a razor blade.
Take the current US-Israel war on Iran.
By the words of party spokespeople on radio discussion programmes, it is almost as if the NPP cannot wait (they are actually praying) for the price of fuel to rise.
Why? It’s the only way to look good in the voter’s eyes.
Between 2021 and 2024, it was the NDC that forced Ghanaians to believe that the economic hardships had nothing to do with COVID or the Russia-Ukraine war, but with the NPP’s incompetence.
Just imagine. In the recent brouhaha over cocoa prices, the NPP went to cocoa farmers in person with a message that amounted to asking them to undertake industrial action – to make the government unpopular! They even took a television crew with them.
Tit for tat. Before the 2024 elections, NDC officials highlighted that under the NPP, cocoa farmers received only about 30 per cent of the FOB export price.
They promised to raise the farm-gate price to GH¢6,000 per bag.
I have twice made the point that the type of democracy we practice in Ghana is too adversarial. But who will listen?
Those who have to change it are the ones benefiting from it.
Japan story, Ghana’s moral decline
See what I read from an online portal:
“In April 2025, Japan’s electronic toll collection system failed for nearly two days, forcing toll gates open to allow free passage.
Instead of skipping payment, over 24,000 drivers VOLUNTARILY paid their tolls online once the system was restored.”
Netizens see this as an example of Japan’s cultural emphasis on honour and trust, reminding the world that integrity means doing what’s right even when no one is watching.
Dear reader, to wish that same is said about Ghana is to wish for the moon.
My point in this article is one: if we continue at our rate of moral decline, no amount of economic success will turn Ghana into a paradise.
Our condition will be like Nigeria during the oil boom: nice high rises, shopping malls filled to the brim with the latest conveniences from Western Europe and America.
But it was “a golden apple rotten at the heart” because that was the period when the word, “419”, was coined.
Are you a Ghanaian? Were you surprised by the revelation in Parliament last Tuesday by the Deputy Finance Minister regarding the audit of the Nana Akufo-Addo government?
Delivering a statement on the report of the Auditor-General on arrears and payables as at the end of 2024, the deputy minister revealed that the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2024 submitted a request for GH¢89.4 million to the Ministry of Finance to be transferred to five commercial banks as government contributions toward interest payments under the One District, One Factory (1D1F).
The Ministry of Finance subsequently processed the request to the
Controller and Accountant General’s Department for payment.
However, he said, “auditors’ verification revealed that none of the five banks had any record of being owed the stated amounts.”
Dear Ghanaian, do you know what this means?
Without the auditors’ intervention, the GH¢89.4 million would have landed in the private bank accounts of a handful of members of government, civil/public servants.
The other irregularity involved GH¢10.5 million allegedly paid into a “Buffer Account” at a commercial bank.
Upon verification, the bank confirmed that it had never received such a payment and that the cited account number did not exist.
They go to church on Sunday; they go to mosque on Friday.
As usual, Ghanaians, in their righteous anger, screamed and banged fists on tables.
When, however, the minister threatened that “the entire 1D1F scheme will undergo a forensic audit”, Ghanaians laughed.
They hear these warnings every year!
How else will the latest versions of Mercedes, Lamborghini and other 2025-2026 car models land every day at the ports?
With a few exceptions, who owns or rents the high-rise apartments around the airport?
To be sure, not all of Ghanaian society today is consumed by dishonesty, but while some years ago you could count on 80 per cent of Ghanaians to do the right thing, today, 20 per cent will be difficult to find.
Our situation is likened to the biblical story in Genesis chapter 18, where God agrees to Abraham’s plea to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if at least 10 righteous people are found in the city.
During negotiations, the number was reduced from 50 to 10.
Despite this mercy, fewer than 10 righteous people were found, leading to the cities' destruction.
The writer is the Executive Director,
Centre for Communication and Culture.
E-mail:
