Is Ghana Safe? If so, then why is it taking our leaders ages to pass a common bill they claim would be favorable and not detrimental?

Is Ghana Safe? If so, then why are they thinking of converting abandoned tollbooths into washrooms in various parts of the country when there are important projects up in the air.

Is Ghana Safe? If so, then why are students in school and Lecturers at home?

Hmm, we can go on and on with this same question that seems rhetorical.  What is then our fate in the next years to come?

We are told that we the youth are the leaders of tomorrow, have we asked ourselves when that tomorrow will come? 

Surprisingly, while we Christians are finding all nooks and crannies to make Jesus known to win souls for Christ, so lost souls will not be condemned on the day of reckoning, the government according to its findings, is propagating the gospel of E- levy as the only rescuer of Ghana’s economy.

We are told by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta at a town hall that the government will not turn to International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout because, and I quote; Ghana has numerous resources at its disposal and would resort to that to generate revenue.”

But one question baffles me, “Why are they bent on this E- Levy policy when they claim we have numerous resources to transform the country?”

It’s just ironic, isn’t it?

And the interesting thing is, these same people in 2016 said the resources of the country is enough to turn the country around in their first term.

While touting the incompetence of their opponent, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), most Ghanaians were hopeful that since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed reigns in 2017, they would make it noticeable that these ‘resources’ they preached so much about will be exploited.

Ha! Guess we were wrong.

Is it just a coincidence that the problems we’re facing in our so-called great country Ghana have been outlined in P.O.C Umeh’s poem “Ambassadors of Poverty”?

A flashback to this illustrious nine stanza literature piece and that has triggered so many thoughts

Being the saviours of the people, they claim to be are rather positioned occupants in the guise of workers, with suckling filaments and enemies of service who are locked in the corrosive war of corruption with their people’s treasury and killing their future with frustration.  

They always come in with tearful stories from the impoverished constituencies to rip us off our power and rights as they leave us with death traps for roads, mud for water, candle for light, underneath trees as schools, rats for protein, and fasting as food where we become helpless victims by chance.

A podcast I listened to weeks ago, revealed that Ghana is one of the five countries in Africa with the cheapest broadband as far as the internet is concerned, but what do we see? 

Now the means of generating revenue is on mobile money users, where most people are planning on reverting to the old way of transaction which is the bank.  I wouldn’t be surprised should there be another uproar as to charges with data bundle.  Can we also escape from that too, certainly not? 

Each and every day you see people fondling with their phones not to talk of kids using it for research all in the name of assignments.  

What are we doing to correct this? Do we sit down aloof?

No, because our actions and inactions have brought us here.

Seeing Lecturers on strike thereby causing students to engage in menial jobs to fend for themselves for the time being.

Traders on the fence, NABCo trainees in despair, high taxes on petroleum shooting up fuel prices and causing increment in transport fares, aged women still in business because of unemployed youths, just to highlight the few of the many problems we encounter. 

Have we asked ourselves which way forward Ghana?

What are we doing to stop the situation?

They say, “If you can’t beat them, join them,” Are we joining them? I hope not.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, we can change this by taking that first step, a step where we have a choice, a step where we fight for our rights, a step where we start voicing out our opinions.

You might say they won’t listen, yes, they won’t listen and the reason is that it’s only a few of us that are bold enough to let our voices be heard.

But when we stand together in unity trust me, they (the government) will be forced to listen because we have the power to make it happen.

I rest my case.

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About the author; Naa Atswer is a concerned youth citizen who has the nation at heart and hopes to see Ghana grow.