See something, say something

 When we talk of national development, it depends on each and every person in the country, whose contribution is very necessary for the good of all.

The country comprises various re­gions, and each region deals with an institution that plays a crucial role in its area of operation. The country as a whole depends on the contribution of each institution.

Similarly, the economy is also made up of various sectors. Each sector also plays useful roles that contribute in one way or another to the general growth of the country.

Some of the sectors are agricul­ture, transportation, mining, elec­tricity, building and construction, health, transportation, and many others. These sectors operate as institutions or organisations.

The institutions or organisations are managed by people, some of whom are good while others are bad. The problem with many people is that, when they see what is wrong in society, they fail to report it to the appropriate authorities for action to be taken. For this reason, wrongdo­ing and crimes continue unabated in society.

Many Ghanaians complain about our systems, stating that they don’t work to the satisfaction of everyone. This explains why many criminals go scot-free in this nation.

Even in situations where eye­witnesses who can be of help are expected to assist the police in their investigations, they refuse to cooperate, and this makes things difficult for everyone in the country. A common practice that has been ob­served over the years in all parts of the country is the the blame game, where everyone wants to blame somebody for wrongdoing.

However, when it comes to own­ing up to the truth, nobody wants to do so, and we sit to play the blame game so that we can keep ourselves out of trouble.

This is not good enough because it makes us less responsible for ac­tions that could have been taken to prevent wrongdoings in society and help our peace-keeping institutions uncover culprits who do not work in the interest of the country.

The government is working hard to make socioeconomic development better for all Ghanaians. Unfortu­nately, things have not been able to move at a faster rate than we all expected.

For example, corruption is ev­erywhere, yet many people find it difficult to report any wrongdoing to the appropriate authorities for the right actions to be taken. Also, many personnel in organisations, public and private, are aware of the stealing of funds and acts of corruption that go on in their organisations.

In spite of this, nothing is report­ed, and we pretend that everything is fine. There are many heads of agencies who are very corrupt and have established systems to put fear in people and prevent them from revealing their negative deeds.

The entire country must, there­fore, turn a new leaf and begin to re-examine its conscience in order to uncover wrongdoers in the country.

Instead of the truth, what do we see?

In some cases, wrongdoers are shielded and protected from naming and shaming, and they are also not prosecuted in court in line with the laws of the land. This has gone on in many sectors of the country, and for this reason, the truth is no longer revealed. It is as if people prefer untruth to truth. This is very unfor­tunate.

Each time anybody sees some­thing, we must be prepared to say it to the right authorities, and this is why it has been emphasised by authorities in this country that, “See something, say something.” If we can all collaborate in this way, we can go a long way toward helping develop the country in a faster way than can be imagined.