We’ve changed, let’s change
The above quote, simple as it may appear, is pregnant with meanings and suggests that there is more to change than meets the eye.
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Many people have always used the word “change” when they are not satisfied with a system and need it replaced with another or when they feel that a person in whom they hold trust has not lived up to expectation and, therefore, ought to make way for a new person.
In the run-up to the 2016 general election, “change” was the word on the lips of many political pundits and supporters of political parties in opposition. While many advocates of change expressed the concept through verbal communication, others resorted to the use of non-verbal communication by making the sign used by a coach when effecting a substitution.
Political change
Perhaps, the political party which viciously pushed forward the change agenda and backed it with ample evidence was the New Patriotic Party (NPP). No wonder, the wind of change swept through every nook and cranny of the country and translated into a landslide victory. The message of change was cooked with ingredients such as free senior high school (SHS), “one district, one factory,” “one village, one dam,” “one constituency, $1 million,” and creation of jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.
So delicious and irresistible was it that by the time the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) could say jack, a handsome majority of eligible voters had deserted its “Toaso,” or continuity dining table in favour of the latter.
Even before the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei, declared the outcome of the December 7 polls, it was crystal clear that the anchor of “Toaso” could not hold the wind of “change” from blowing.
The wild jubilation and crazy celebrations that characterised the outcome of the election bear ample testimony of the fact that the expected change had arrived and that honey and milk would begin to flow.
The true change
One question that begs for answers, however, is whether Ghanaians will change with the change? Is political change the true change Ghana needs?
We will only be tickling ourselves and laugh if we jump to the conclusion that a mere change in political leadership is the ultimate solution to the developmental challenges that the country is confronted with.
If we continue to go about our duties in the “business as usual” manner, then the change we have had will only be a case of old wine being packaged in fresh bottles.
There is a saying that if one wants to know the nature of death, the wise thing to do is to look at the posture of a sleeping neighbour.
The true change that we need as citizens is not a change of political regime. Rather, it is a change in our attitude in order to give real meaning to the political change we’ve had, so as to build a robust economy.
Time management
Key to this true change is a disciplined citizen who will make a resolution to adhere to judicious management of time, especially among public office holders and state institutions.
Time is a precious definer of the socio-economic development of any society or country for which reason the concept of “African Time” ought to change with the change we have made.
As a people, if we continue to report to work late, spend productive hours idling about and give flimsy excuses for not meeting timelines, the political change we have had will be nothing but a mirage.
We asked for change, and we have got it, but that change must ignite an insatiable thirst and hunger for best practices in all spheres of human endeavour.
Laws must work
The true change we need as a country is one in which the law will not be made a scarecrow for birds of prey to settle on in some instances, and draconian legislations used in other instances – by this, the law ought to apply to all people equally without discrimination.
Until we make commitments at the individual, corporate and national levels to stay away from negative tendencies such as nepotism, pilfering, robbing Peter to pay Paul and use of tampered weighing scales, the political change we have had will rather compound our woes.
Reflection
If there can be any good note to conclude this piece, then let us reflect on the following words by the President of the United States (U.S), Barack Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
This was further buttressed by C. JoyBell C, a leading female thinker, writer and mentor who wrote that, “The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.”
So you see, the change you need is you.
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