Dr. Nkrumah, the First President of Ghana, once said: “The Blackman is capable of managing his own affairs.” I dare say, today, that we are negating that great pronouncement by our behaviour and mentality. In the 1960s, when we were Ghana Young Pioneers, we sacrificed ourselves, at the peril of our lives, to promote, protect and defend the good name of Ghana — to the extent that all Blackmen in the diaspora said they were Ghanaians, but today it’s the reverse. Education, which
President Nelson Mandela said, is the best tool to turn round the world, was in place; discipline was at its best and we carried this from our homes to schools and workplaces; the laws for the betterment of our nation were enforced to the letter. Cleanliness enforced by the Town Council Officers, corrupted as “TANKASI” or “NSAMAN-NSAMAN,” made everybody sit up to their responsibility, and that reduced sickness in society. Today, entrusting somebody to enforce some law is seen as an avenue to make illegal money to enrich themselves overnight, and this is the BANE of our problem.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 that: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Are we doing that? We have indiscipline surrounding us — disrespect to elders, chiefs and officials, littering of our environment, destruction of our farmlands, forests and water bodies through galamsey, defecation at our beaches and so on. If God could work a miracle to send all Blacks to Europe, America etc. and bring Whites to replace us in Africa, believe me, in less than a year, Africa would be very clean.
Can you imagine what will happen in the diaspora? What position shall Ghana occupy if the world countries are rated in order of cleanliness? Today, the reality we are facing is that our capital city, Accra, is faced with flooding, and many people died because of this.
Ideally, all our gutters should be covered, like in the advanced countries, but we don’t have the funds now; so, we must manage what we have by cleaning our environment, desilting gutters, and educating all and sundry, and using our ergonomic plans and technology to FINE and STOP recalcitrant litterlouts and make our city clean. No electrical fire can be put off if the power supply is not first put off. Similarly, if we don’t stop the litterbugs, our city can never be clean.
This is where we have missed the road to cleanliness. We thank the President for asking us to do the needful, but at the expense of productivity. Should we sit down, by no means disconcerted, until the President calls? No! Possibly, some great President Mahama was swept away in the floods – a great loss! We spent many hours holding meetings to find a far-fetched solution to this tragedy, but calling us a 4-Man Committee, with a complete write-up, by the grace of God, on SANITATION SOLUTION has become a herculean task. Please, Mr. President, call us because I had written to the Minister for Sanitation on this but to no avail.
I have also, through the guidance of Hon. Alex Segbefia, written to the Electoral Commissioner, on elections in Ghana WITHOUT RIGGING but also to no avail. I made a publication in two great Newspapers — The Insight and the New Week End Crusading Guide — on the “Solution to Galamsey” but also without response.
In spite of that, we are not discouraged, because we have a lot to offer this nation, through the guidance of God. We need only a Legislation to back us that, if you litter, you would be fined instantly. The solution to our Sanitation Problem does not lie with only the cognoscenti, but through the grace and guidance of God. The wall to penetrate to government is difficult, sturdy and solid. Please, come in Mr. President. Thank you.
By Elder Patrick Kwasi Adu, A.R.S. Church, Sempe Branch
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