The alarm bells are sounding

On Saturday, September 16, 2017, I was in Koforidua to join a colleague of my fraternity to bury his beloved mother. I parked my car close to some women selling fruits at the Jackson’s park. Unknowingly, I had not only blocked their view but I had also prevented others from seeing what they had on display. Just as I got down to lock up, one of the ladies said in Twi: “So this man is telling us that he does not know he is preventing others from seeing what we are selling. Look at him, he must be one of the many politicians who steal our money to buy nice cars.”The comments hit me but I refused to react and pretended I didn’t understand the language. She continued by saying, “These days, it has become the norm for all ‘big men’ to steal that’s why people use big cars all over. It’s all our money they have stolen.”

After what seemed to be the last comment, I drew closer to her and asked if I had offended her. She was mute but her body language could tell how furious she was. I then moved my vehicle to avoid further insinuations.

When I went back to my seat, I tried to reminisce about the comment and wondered why the lady would describe a 2010 registered Hyundai iX35 as a luxury vehicle which can only be acquired by stealing from state coffers.

It then dawned on me. what I had heard others in the city of Accra say about people driving what we now describe as the V8s. Most of the time we find drivers of such vehicles disobeying traffic regulations in the full glare of the police and the hawkers, most of whom, threatened by the manoeuvres of those drivers, insult them for using their ‘power’ to behave as if they are above the law.

The reality

I feel the alarm bells ringing here. They ring because every morning on radio, we here news of corruption among people who have been entrusted with the management of public property and funds.

Monies said to have been stolen are so staggering that one wonders how much of it can be spent by an individual in his or her lifetime.

For instance, let us first take the issue about the huge sum of money spent on some vehicles described as ambulances. Today we hear of the blame game and what is so appalling is that, as a state, we are not able to find who made those payments for us to question why he took us for fools to import something which is not fit for the purpose. Today, many people are dying because there are no ambulances to convey them to the nearest hospital for treatment just because one ‘smart’ guy has done what is gradually becoming the norm in the country – stealing.

The alarm bells are indeed ringing because, just weeks before this ambulance case, we heard about a series of reports, in which a businessman managed to set up numerous companies and got a couple of state officials to dole out monies from the poor taxpayers, ostensibly to undertake projects, only for preliminary investigations to reveal that that man whom society revered so much was doing what many have already described as a deliberate attempt to use greedy politicians to milk the state at the expense of the poor.

There are instances in the past where one man, with the help of some other state officials, managed to take away from the people about GH¢51 million. Today, that man has the guts to call on the President to come to his aid when he has already admitted to taking the money and pledged to pay back. Why should the alarm bells not ring over such robbery in daylight?

One friend told me that he is not able to watch GTV in the mornings because he feels sick watching the disgusting things he sees and hears at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). What is said there does not only stink but makes one question whether we are a country with men and women with any mind of our own. So if the alarm bells ring, who will question them?

Who is listening?

A couple of years ago, the Vice- President, Dr Bawumia, then in opposition, kept touting on campaign platforms that the country was so rich to depend on foreign aid to undertake development projects. This is because to him, there is money in the country and all that is required is for the government to ensure that the loopholes are blocked to retain the money.

However, the alarm bells are ringing loud because there are many stories about misappropriation of state funds in their millions, with the perpetrators walking free.

How do we feel as a country when we go to other countries to beg for money when we allow the few greedy ones to steal, sometimes amounts twice or three times bigger than what we want to take from the outside world which comes with interest?

The alarm bells are ringing and it is the duty of the government to stop treating the thieves among us with kid gloves.

We should be reminded that when alarm bells sound and no one heeds it, something follows.

We have witnessed many uprisings in other countries which were sparked by agitations from the ground and fuelled by government inaction.

I do not take the comments from the ladies at the Jackson’s Park in Koforidua for granted because, as innocent as I am, I am being classified among the thieves, and one day soon when the youth explode, I may be a victim of circumstance because the real ones who are causing us fortunes would have escaped to other countries to enjoy their illegal booty.