Autobiography of Corruption-Ghana: Cargo-Cult Pageantry

My Surname is Corruption Ghana

Ghanaians make noise

Critique, attack

Cajole, question

Assail me...

For now and tomorrow

Tomorrow and the next

The forget it all

I, the elitist pen-robber

I, the state-thief

The killer of the dream

I, the thief, enjoy the loot

The killer of the dream

I, the thief, enjoy the loot

Loot of cars

Loot of lands

Loot of houses

Tomorrow and the next

Ghanaians forget it all

The disease of thievery

The disease of corruption

The disease of cronyism

The disease of nepotism

The disease of �tribalism�

My surname is Corruption-Ghana

I am also John, Newcastle, and Wilberforce

I go to school to shed my local cultures

To shed my Ghanaianess and Africanity

Today I call myself Chang China-Ghana

It is my new sense of belonging

My father is Fama Nyame [Give all to God]

My mother is Enye Hwe [It Does Not Matter]

My parents nurtured my corruption

My community adores corruption

Thieves are my sanitized ancestors

My religion is the Cargo Cult

The followers are a living dead

The materiality of USED all

The symbol of the Cargo Cult

Living and loving it all

Overseas used items

Used cars

Used coffins

Used umbrellas

Used computers

Used chewing sticks

My lyrics are a dearth of inventiveness

My celebration of my eternal inferiority

My Surname is Corruption Ghana

I steal from the state

My parents like it

They are like all Ghanaians

They say their son has made it

I steal from the state

My family will give me a state burial

My community will worship me

All Ghanaians will remember me

Remember and idolize my stolen wealth

Draped in our national corruption flag

I am the cynosure of all thievery eyes

I am the petal on the stalk

Stalk of individual achievements

Stalk of communal approval

Stalk of communal appreciation

Of thievery, graft, pilfering

My Surname is Corruption Ghana

I am the ovary of everyone�s dream

Ovary of familial progress

Ovary of communal expectations

Ovary of mentoring to young ones

I am Corruption-Ghana

Celebrated in church

Celebrated at festivals

Celebrated in Parliament

Celebrated in the Palace

Celebrated in bedrooms

My surname is Corruption Ghana

I thrive on bribes, pen-robbery

State-stealing is my staple food

Graft is my oxygen

I am smooth

I rob with my signature

Throating big words

Swaggering with degrees

Pen in hand is my weapon

I am an elitist armed robber

My Surname is Corruption Ghana

Call me Sakyi-Hughes

Call me Kwamena Bartels

Call me PV Obeng

Call me ET Mensah

Call me Wereko Brobey

Call me Asabee

Call me Albin Bagbin

Call me Asiedu Nketiah

My Surname is Corruption Ghana

And I am all

All you wish to be

I am a Minister of state

I am a bank manager

I am an MP

I am a presidential aide

I am an accountant

I am a medical doctor

I am a top public servant

I am a crony of a top official

I am my �tribe�

Of Rawlings

Of Kufour, Mills

My Surname is Corruption Ghana

I am Corruption Ghana

I am worshipped

I am all you want

To steal from the state

Love of country

Love of stealing

Our moral hierarchy

Hierarchizing thievery

Our pathological culture

Culturizing thievery

Glamorizing thievery

Eternalizing thievery

Source: Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D.