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Traditional values an option for anti-corruption drive — Part 2
Human beings, whether Black, so-called white (because in my opinion, they are more pink than white), yellow or whatever colour, have a tendency for doing the wrong thing. This is why laws and regulations are created to shape mindsets and help people to conform to right attitudes. Left alone, you will be surprised at the things you will see in society.
We often hear elderly people saying, “In our days, children were very submissive. They were very obedient and valued morality.” What they normally do not add is the enforcement regime that existed in those days, where truants could be chased after and brought to school, and teachers would beat the hell out of you by way of lashes. The shame and pain were enough motivation to reform truants. There must be examples of people being punished for corrupt acts, and the punishments must be severe enough to serve as a deterrent to others.
A WhatsApp video I watched recently convinced me that going back to our traditional values is one of the best options for fighting corruption. A journalist was interviewing people at random and asking them a specific question and getting their responses.
A young lady was asked by the journalist, “Do you have a boyfriend?” and she said “Yes.” She then asked her, “Have you ever cheated on your boyfriend?” and her response was “No.” She then repeated the question, and she still insisted that she had never cheated. Then she took a fly whisk, what we call ‘Bodua’ in our local Twi language, and gave it to the lady and asked her to hold it, and then asked her the same question again — and the lady changed her answer. She changed from “no” to a “yes.”
The ‘Bodua’ had some cowries, which is called ‘sedee’ in the local language, and it brought fear into her, compelling her to admit to what she had done in secret. When she realised that there were dire consequences that could be imminent against her, she decided to tell the truth.
The colonial masters did all they could to let us throw away our traditional values by persuading our grandparents to believe that those values were idol worship. Drums were prohibited as part of Christian worship, with the explanation that it was idolatry. The true intention behind all these things was to convince our forefathers that our values were evil, so they would accept the European values in order to create conditions favourable for the Europeans to manipulate them.
The objective clearly was to gain control over the African in order to loot our resources without pushback. As a result, anti-social acts like bribery and corruption in general gradually started creeping into our society because our forebears started practising “and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” as the way to go, instead of Tegare dispensing instant justice, which caused people to conform to acceptable societal behaviour.
It is my candid opinion, based on observation over the years, that if we are serious about fighting corruption in this country, then the option of incorporating some of our traditional practices into our governance architecture needs to be given serious consideration.
We have observed this Christian belief of punishment by God in a distant future in heaven for far too long. It has not brought us any benefits; the corruption is on the increase. Let us incorporate some of our traditional values to compel Ghanaians to conform.
Insanity, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. God bless.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
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THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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