WHY INCOMPETENT POLITICIANS CAN KILL YOU!

If like me, virtually every household electrical appliance (and most hi-tech gadgetry) you own, has been destroyed because of incessant power outages, and constant fluctuations in the power supply, the phrase "incompetent leadership", takes on a whole new meaning!

I am just so sick and tired of living in a nation that has a largely incompetent political class, which is always playing the blame game, instead of resolving the problems that confront ordinary people - and is full of clueless journalists, interested only, in what they can get for their praise-singing, on a daily basis, on behalf of the many incompetent men and women, in charge of our homeland Ghana: instead of pointing out the effects, on the lives of ordinary people, of the monumental incompetence, of some of our leaders.

I appeared on a radio programme not too long ago - and when asked by the host, what I thought was the greatest threat facing Ghanaian democracy, replied: "...the effects of global climate change..." You could hear a pin drop - every one in the studio thought I was mad! Yet, let them go and talk to the ordinary people around the country, whose lives have been destroyed, by the devastating floods of recent times: and who feel abandoned by the authorities - and ask them what are some of the rewards, if any, that they think have accrued to them (apart from the power to choose who rules them every four years!), as a result of their participation in Ghanaian democracy!

It irritates me no end, that virtually no one in either government or the media, is interested in what is the greatest threat facing humankind - a threat that is here with us: not in some distant future, generations ahead. The floods in the north and before that, in Accra and other places in the southern half of our country, are all a result of the impact of global climate change - and they are a harbinger of worse things to come. Extremes in weather will be the norm, going forward, dear reader, and we must adapt to the changed circumstances, of our times, or be ruined en masse, if we continue to ignore it: and carry on with business, as usual.

What planning is going into the business of capacity-building of vital state institutions like NADMO - which our political class simply use as cushy sinecures, for their cronies and their favourite party foot-soldiers, dear reader? And how much are we making available to our scientific community, as our leaders fritter away scarce resources released into the system, by no longer having to pay any interest on our cancelled external debt, in the building of presidential palaces, and collaring banks in which the state has an interest, to fund the hotel-building projects, of the scions, of the family clans, of some of our leaders? Zilch - that is how much, dear reader.

And if you dare to complain about this misapplication of scarce resources, which we constantly insist on calling corruption, instead of super-clever white collar thievery, they have the gall, to say you are envious, of them. Yet, not all of us care about money, to the extent that we are prepared to sacrifice core human values, such as honesty, decency and modesty, in pursuit of our personal wealth creation. Our leaders must never forget that there are many ordinary people, who actually believe, that a good name, is far better, than tainted riches.

So when I hear of the huge sums being spent in pursuit of the personal ambitions of some members of our political class, to become the next president of Nkrumah's Ghana, and who say, in response to those who ask where the money is coming from, that "friends" of theirs, are funding their presidential ambitions, visions of a large army of insufferable individuals, possessing the belligerent arrogance, of men like the Kennedy Agyapongs, who say they spent all their money funding one of the then candidate Kuffuor's failed bids for the presidency, and had to go back to America to become taxi drivers to rebuild their personal net worth, and think that that entitles them to act as if they are all-powerful, stalking the corridors of power, after January 7th 2009, are immediately conjured up my mind's eye.

And that puts my blood pressure up, and resentment builds up in me again, about the collateral damage of incompetent leadership, which the destruction of my home electrical appliances and hi-tech gadgetry represents - and a determination to work hard to ensure that the political party, whose obscene philosophy of greed that says "each one for himself, and God for us all", has turned selfishness and greed into a national obsession for many Ghanaian public officials, never gets back into power again, in my lifetime and that of my dear and precious grandchildren, in far away London, is renewed in me.

Why let them back into office again, when their example, has encouraged many a public official, paid by the hard-pressed Ghanaian taxpayer, to ensure that we all live in a civilised society, to rather focus on becoming high net worth individuals overnight, and are thus busy feathering their own nests, to the exclusion of everything else? Has our entire system not been put more or less on auto-pilot, for that reason, dear reader? A resolve never to allow this particular crowing crowd, to get back into power again in our country, is rekindled in me, every time I see an example of incompetent leadership in the Ghana of today - and there are so many one comes across on a daily basis: which does one's blood pressure, absolutely no good at all, and can kill one!

Ghana's oil wealth, must never be allowed to fall into the hands of the men and women who espouse today's creed of greed and selfishness - ever. Period. And in case you want an example of the monumental incompetence I speak of, take this example, for instance, dear reader: Ghana recently spent some 6 million US dollars, to import energy saving bulbs, to help us conserve energy - doubtless, a worthwhile cause, at a time of global climate change. Yet, the sad fact, is that if we had creative thinkers able to think outside the box, as our leaders, we could have found any number of large multi-national companies, in the developed world, able, and willing, to offset their carbon footprint, to pay for the cost of those energy saving bulbs for Ghana!

Would that not have saved that 6 million US dollars - which could have provided some relief to our flood victims countrywide: many now left high and dry, so to speak? Yet, you will constantly hear our leaders, who do not hesitate to fritter away the public purse, when it comes to spending lavishly on 'prestige' projects that provide them with some personal comfort and benefit, saying government does not have the resources to look after all our flood victims. Electing such politicians to power, could end up literally killing you tomorrow in a flood - because no one could come from the woefully under-resourced NADMO, to rescue you and your family. Hmmm, Ghana. Asem ebaba debi! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be contacted by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.