The President’s purported ‘Gold Streets’ comment apparently made in Kumasi recently, that some people would never appreciate it even if the streets of the city were paved with gold, seems to have attracted quite a storm, with allegations of ethnic divisiveness hurled a him. For me, a more fundamental problem emerges from his comments; political patronage and largesse. It is indicative of a certain mindset in this country-that ‘development projects’ like roads, hospitals, schools, etc are within the gift of the ruling government, and that where government is so kind as to visit projects on particular communities, then they ought to be grateful both in so expressing and more importantly by ‘voting right’ at election time. In other words, government sees itself as a gentle benevolent philanthropist. No wonder at durbars up and down the land, chiefs and DCEs, in a desperate bid for a slice of the proverbial national cake , tend to beg government for this or the other project, and where the durbar takes place after the project is completed, gushing praise pours forth. Delegations visit seat of government all the time to say thank you for bringing this or that project to their localities. I am not sure why I should crawl on my knees and lick the polish off the boots of a government minister just because the government has done this or that in my community. I don’t like the taste of boot polish anyway. When projects are implemented in our communities, it is funded from taxation or earnings from our exports or loans taken in the name of the people. In other words, it is OUR money.Government has no business expecting us to clap for it and roll over simply because it is doing its job. By their Father Christmas stance, ruling governments are in a position to reward or punish communities with development projects or use them as bribes in a squalid vote-buying exercise. And that is toxic for our politics.
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 03:14:03 +0000
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