In Ghana’s political landscape, two giants dominate the field: the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
These two parties have become the pillars of political power, the gatekeepers of national decisions and the controllers of state resources. But they have also become something even more damaging: the self-appointed “owners” of national development projects.
Whenever power changes hands, a familiar and irritating drama unfolds. The new government walks into office and the opposition immediately begins to chant: “We started this project.”
“That one belongs to us.”
“We initiated that before they came.” As if they used their own pockets, their own funds, their own savings to build them.
As if the projects were family properties inherited from their ancestors.
Painful truth: Not a single cedi used to build Ghana belongs to NPP or NDC.
It is the people’s money; every pesewa.
The taxes of the market woman in Agbogbloshie, the fuel levies of the trotro driver in Kumasi, the corporate taxes of companies in Accra, the VAT paid by every consumer - that is what builds Ghana.
Not the pockets of political parties. Not the secret accounts of party financiers.
And definitely not the chest of any political mafia.
But because our politics has been built on unhealthy ego and rivalry, we have normalised a disgraceful culture: the politics of ownership.
Projects never paid for
It is simple. In Ghana, political capital is more valuable than national progress.
A party must always prove it is better than the other.
A party must always fight to appear superior in the eyes of voters.
And what is the easiest way to score points?
Claim the project. Own the credit. Brand the development.
Even if it is a lie.
And so, instead of telling the truth that projects are funded with state money, parties behave like private estate developers fighting over who built a house they never paid for.
The attitude is childish.
The behaviour is embarrassing. But the consequences?
They are fatal to our national development.
Abandonment
Because of this poisonous mindset, Ghana has suffered more abandoned projects than almost any country on the continent.
You see them everywhere: Half-completed hospitals rotting in weeds.
Affordable housing units decaying for years.
Factories abandoned after millions were sunk.
Railway lines rusting under the sun.
Classroom blocks never roofed.
Water systems left to die.
Industrial parks frozen in time. And why?
Not because Ghana lacks money.
Not because Ghana lacks engineers.
But because Ghana lacks continuity.
The moment a new government sees a project started by its predecessor, the first question is not “How do we finish this?” It is “Who started it?” If the answer is “the other party,” that project is as good as dead.
This behaviour did not start today.
It has tormented Ghana since Nkrumah’s overthrow.
Even the same political party, when it returns to office under a different president, sometimes refuses to continue what their own colleague started.
Because each leader wants to leave their own mark, have their own ribbon-cutting, carve their own legacy.
Legacy over responsibility. Party pride over national good. Self-interest over Ghana.
Money is ours
The most painful part is that the money used to start these projects must still be paid back, whether the project is abandoned or not.
Loans do not disappear. Interest does not vanish.
Contractors do not forget.
Materials do not return themselves.
So, Ghana pays twice: Money wasted on the abandoned project and money needed to start a new one to replace it.
Imagine a farmer borrowing money to build a barn, abandoning it halfway, taking another loan to build a second barn, abandoning that one too and repeating this for decades.
That is Ghana’s political development story.
We are not poor. We are wasteful.
And our waste is organised through politics.
Political mafias
Let us tell the truth boldly: When parties claim projects as theirs, they behave not like leaders but like mafias fighting over territories.
A national project should be a national responsibility, not a partisan trophy.
But we have turned governance into a competition of credit-taking and propaganda rather than a serious pursuit of development.
Under this mentality: A sod-cutting ceremony is more important than finishing the project.
A party’s legacy matters more than the nation’s needs.
A president’s signature building matters more than a community’s basic services.
A party’s bragging rights matter more than the country’s progress. Is this leadership? No.
This is political cartel behaviour wearing the mask of democracy.
We must face this truth: No country in history ever developed with a four-year cycle of destruction and restarting.
Europe did not. Asia did not. Rwanda did not. Botswana did not.
But Ghana insists on this suicidal ritual every election cycle.
If a government comes and stops all ongoing projects just because the face behind them is different, the nation is doomed to crawl forever.
This is why we remain stuck working hard but moving nowhere.
We must introduce a national doctrine of continuity: Every project above 30 per cent completion must be continued by law.
Abandoning a project without a national justification must become a punishable offence.
All state-funded projects must be labelled NATIONAL, not partisan. Ghanaians must stop applauding behaviour and demand accountability.
Until we enforce continuity, Ghana will keep sinking money into holes and calling it governance.
A nation deserves better
Ghana is not the property of NPP or NDC.
It is not an empire to be shared between two elephants.
It is not a playground for political egos.
It is a nation of 33 million people who deserve roads that last, schools that function, hospitals that open, and factories that produce.
A nation where development is not a partisan game.
A nation where public funds serve public interests.
A nation where leadership means stewardship, not ownership.
The politics of “we started it” must end.
Because Ghana belongs to Ghanaians not to political mafias.
