<<Print>>

“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,

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

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

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

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