The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Vatican, Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, says some Ghanaian leaders are conniving with foreigners to loot the nation’s resources without recourse to the implications of their actions.

According to him, the country’s woes is about leadership and the insatiable desire for wealth at the nation’s expense.

Speaking at the Archbishop John Kodwo Amissah Memorial lecture at the St. Peter’s Regional Seminary, Pedu in Cape Coast, Cardinal Turkson says the preoccupation of such leaders is to go every length to acquire wealth, through the looting of state funds and engaging in activities that destroy the environment.

He described as unfortunate the acts that have destroyed our rivers, lands, and other things that could have been saved for unborn generations.

"Our leaders engage in the cutting of rosewoods and lumbering that have are reducing our forest cover. The Chinese would do these things and go back to their country and develop it and then we have to always depend on aid to survive,” he indicated.

“These people are ready to get wealthy at whatever cost. Some, we know, are in alliance with the Chinese, destroying our lands, forest and water bodies for our gold. ”

Cardinal Turkson blames the destruction of the country’s environment on leadership.

“They are doing so not recognizing the wisdom in ‘edzidzi daadaa ye sen edzidzi pr3ko (leaders fixated on having a one-time meal instead of living to eat every day).” Our leaders are edzdzi preko p3r (our leaders are cravers of one-time meal).”

Cardinal Turkson says Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, advised that every mining should be done under the earth so the surface could be used to grow crops to feed the country but sadly, he says that’s not the case today.

“The surface of the earth is not even sufficient for the people who have been allowed under the watch of leadership, but the rivers that would support life have been desecrated. It’s a question of wisdom and we just need to wake up,” he stated.

He advised leaders to be guided by the spirit of patriotism in all their dealings and not allow their selfish interests and desires that will make them get involved in activities that will destroy the environment.

He says responsiveness to the environment is critical to any nation that would want to develop having the unborn generations at heart.

Relatedly, Cardinal Turkson spoke about the power of the vote of the Ghanaians. To him, it’s time Ghanaians considered issues when it comes to voting.

He says, technically, the exercise of elections is to give somebody their mandate to exercise political power for their benefit and good but such people in Ghana secure the power and the issues are not tackled.

People who are voted for secured their positions by giving gifts and money and thus after elections they don’t see any sense of obligation and responsibility to the electorates.

“When they get there, they act on their own. The moment they give gifts and cloth, then they feel they bought their power. We need to change a few things,”