Among the scientific brains who have taken humans into space are Ghanaians. Within the USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration, popularly known by its acronym, NASA, there is Dr Ave Kludze, an aerospace engineer born in Hohoe, Volta Region, Ghana.

A Senior Spacecraft Systems Engineer specialising in complex systems engineering, he is the first African to command and control a spacecraft in orbit from NASA mission control. His work ensures that spacecraft operate safely and effectively.

Then there is Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, a Ga man born in Accra. He is a robotics engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, best known for leading the design and deployment of robotic systems on Mars missions. He is the first Ghanaian to lead the team that successfully deployed the InSight lander’s instruments to study Mars’ interior.

But neither Ave Kludze nor Trebi-Ollenu is an astronaut, so neither of them has ever flown to space.

There is, however, a “Ghanaian” who has flown to space and made the whole world aware of her “roots” in Ghana. In 1999, Christina Hammock Kroch benefited from a one-year exchange programme that brought her to Ghana. I am referring to the American lady astronaut and Mission Specialist for NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission, April 1- April 11.

For one year at the University of Ghana, Legon, she studied Twi, Music, and Rural Sociology.

That one year in Ghana must have made an unforgettable impression on her; indeed, in a post Artemis II interview, she described her time in Ghana as “the most prospective  gaining and life-changing experience in my life right up there with going to space.”

So deep was the impression that as she packed her baggage three weeks ago to board the first crewed flight to orbit the Moon in over half a century, one of the most significant items on her mind was a flag of Ghana! In space during the historic Artemis II lunar mission, she proudly displayed Ghana’s flag.  The cameras captured the flag of Ghana and were watched by billions of people on Earth (some 384,400 km away).

If goose pimples (Americans say goose bumps) ever killed a human being, yours truly should not be alive today.

Through her studies at Legon, she cultivated a spirit of cultural humility and global citizenship. That worldview has been imprinted on her psyche forever.

Look at what she has achieved for Ghana using that worldview. To quantify her act, take the annual budgetary allocation of Ghana’s Ministry to tourism and multiply it by five. That amount cannot achieve what this flag-in-space has achieved. Suddenly, Ghana is known not only for its slave castles and its vibrant dances and hospitality; in the minds of millions everywhere, Ghana is the academic capital of Africa!

Just to prove myself wrong, I am, through the American embassy, throwing an invitation to Christina Hammock Kroch to visit Ghana again.

She will be shocked to discover a country where nationalism has fled from the hearts of citizens, a country where people attend national events waving NPP/NDC flags.

And why should they not wave party flags? How else will they qualify for contracts, positions as CEOs of state organisations, Board members and Ambassadors?

Parliamentary vetting sessions are dominated by partisan confrontation, leading to the destruction of state property (a crime for which they know they will never be punished). Some opposition parties even wish failure on governments. With an eye on the next election, there are Minorities who wish that the US-Israel war on Iran would lead to fuel hikes and demonstrations by labour and transport unions! The NPP suffered same at the hands of the then Opposition NDC.

Ask yourself: how has Ghana benefited from all this huu-haa, point-scoring pettiness in both the Legislature and the Executive? The vote-buying, fisticuffs in Parliament, “brilliant” speeches, et al have not produced a single President who has, since 1966, added any significant industrial or scientific feat to our developmental effort. The annual budget for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is only big enough to pay the salaries of the scientists/researchers. Every cent, dollar, pound sterling or euro needed to conduct research has come from “development partners” in Europe and North America.

Yet, there is a four-wheel drive for each of the hundreds of Presidential Staffers at the Jubilee House. Each Land Cruiser costs between ¢1,078,000 and GH¢1,370,000. And there are (and have always been) hundreds of thousands in Ghana who, since 1957, share drinking water with cattle. Next time, on television, watch those animals closely: they would be urinating into the river as they drink, and even as humans swim and fetch water home to drink and cook!

There has never been enough money to fix this problem, yet there is always enough to buy (at least) 200 of these luxury vehicles, not counting what goes to Parliamentarians.

What is wrong with us?