“Dear Doc, this is something small for your hard work. It is not a bribe. Take it and relax. In Ghana, everybody ‘chops’ from his work side.”

That was a note attached to a check, issued by a medical superintendent, as a bribe, intended for the director of the NHIA clinical audit team, during an audit at the Essikado District Hospital in the Western region. Dr. Ametewee had defrauded the NHIA to a sum of GHS 415,000.00!

In barely a month, Ghana would be fifty eight solid years since independence. As a country, guess what? We keep waking to more disappointments. Currently, it is the reign of arson. It as though Ghana just discovered another use of fire!

It was quite disappointing when we all awoke to the so-called fire outbreak at the Tema central medical stores. Imagine all the medical supplies supposed to be harboured by this structure, and yet, somehow, it got razed.

Again, let us talk about the fire outbreak at the Tamale Teaching Hospital laboratory store, not forgetting the fire outbreak at the ECG warehouse. How many millions of cedi was lost?

Can we forget the incidence of fraud at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital pharmacy?

Let us not forget the ghost names saga, within the National Service Scheme. 22,612 ghost names! Do you know that this country loses about GHS 94,970,400 each year to undeserved allowances due to these ghost names?

And this is being perpetrated by ordinary Ghanaians! It would be quite interesting to know the total amount of money this nation has lost, in just these above mentioned incidents. And what has been the punishment for such wicked people?

Can you imagine the sums of state-owned cash that disappear in similar or diverse ways on a daily basis through our ports and harbours, borders, checkpoints, offices, both governmental and non-governmental, to mention a few? The real thieves live with us, and yet we all so readily arrest and tag others as thieves!

These thieves are our grandfathers and grandmothers, fathers and mothers, uncles and aunties, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, husbands and wives, in-laws, friends and acquaintances, colleagues, church members, church leaders, social or political leaders, or even neighbours. They are family! Anyone who takes what belongs to others without the knowledge or permission of the owner is a thief!

Talk about the ordinary city guards positioned within our central business districts, for only God knows what. These so-called city guards parade around like vultures, looking out to prey. What are their roles? Must this country continue paying people for no work done? We clothe them in uniform, only for them to extort us! Are we serious?

As always, our gallant policemen and policewomen cannot be ruled out. Visit the various police check points, and you will never be disappointed. The numerous pockets on their uniforms are serving other purposes. At one of these checkpoints quite recently, it was an interesting sight as I watched one police officer, move to a shed, and immediately, started emptying the contents of his day’s labour. Your guess is as good as mine. Are we serious?

Whenever we think of corruption, everyone quickly looks up our political ladder. We only consider politicians to be corrupt. But guess what? Corruption in this nation is most rotten, towards the base! Those at the bottom of the hierarchy are more corrupt. We parade ourselves as middle or even low income earners, either as ordinary government or private workers, until we get caught and make news headlines. And yet, we would only too readily point accusing fingers at our leaders. Are we serious?

Would Ghana ever solve this problem of corruption? In the new Ghana, arson has become the cover-up for embezzlement! Ghanaians are now setting fire to government properties as a cover to their crimes; the gross embezzlements, stealing, misappropriations, to mention but a few. Is Ghana serious?

This is the question we should be asking ourselves each day. Clearly, not all Ghanaians are corrupt, but again, majority is corrupt, and majority is being corrupted daily. The monies being lost are monies taken from the ordinary tax-payer. How then, and for how long, must we sit and watch as these monies keep getting wasted? What happens to those who get nabbed by the law? More stringent measures must be sought and enforced!

Quite recently, Pope Francis I, in his address to some catholic religious said, “We are all sinners, but not all are corrupt. Sinners are to be accepted, but not the corrupt.”

By inference, we sin because we are weak, but WE ARE CORRUPT BECAUSE WE ARE WICKED. CORRUPTION IS EVIL! The one who offers a bribe, and the one who receives this bribe, are both culpable!

Anna Esi Hanson (nnhanson2@yahoo.com; esociocomm.blogspot.com)