Outgoing British High Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin has highlighted corruption as one factor that has bedevilled development of the country.
He said the British government has “made and we will continue to make an issue of corruption”, insisting that they make “no apology for that”.
He emphasised that “corruption is a long and sophisticated word for which a much shorter and clearer word suffices, namely theft”.
The diplomat stated that “corruption so enriches the few and so impoverishes the many, and is therefore such a huge obstacle to Ghana fulfilling its true potential”.
He made these comments while delivering a speech at the Queen's birthday party in Accra on Thursday, June 1.
Mr Benjamin said those who steal state resources or abuse their positions of trust to enrich themselves, their families and their friends are effectively “robbing millions of their own Ghanaian compatriots of their best possible future”.
“When someone buys a luxury property here in Accra or overseas, it is perfectly legitimate to ask whether the money invested in this way was legitimately obtained. But it seems to me, after three years here, that everybody knows that these questionable practices are happening but few dare to talk about it openly,” he said.
“So, we end up in a scenario, like in that fairy tale about the emperor’s clothing, where it is simply taboo to talk openly about what is staring us right in the face, and a kind of hypocrisy risks becoming hardwired into the national discourse.
“There is, I submit however, a direct line to be drawn between, on the one hand a few people right here in Accra who own fleets of V8s - each one of those vehicles costing multiples of their official annual salary - and, on the other hand, the still far too many examples throughout Ghana where children are forced to go to school under a tree rather than in a classroom – a classroom, incidentally, that could cost much less than the value of just one of those V8s to build. That seems to me a particularly apt comparison today, the first of June, which is UN International Children’s Day.
“The moral of this story? It seems that for a few people, easy money is a better choice than hard work, and that self-interest hugely trumps the national interest,” he said.
Mr Benjamin commended President Nana Akufo-Addo on his determination “to address this scourge of corruption which has simply got worse in recent years and sometimes veered out of control, and your determination to punish – finally – its worst perpetrators with real sanctions”.
He assured the support of the British government if need be to collaborate with Ghana to curb corrupt practices.
“The UK stands ready and willing to help your efforts to combat corruption for the undoubted benefit of the whole of Ghana,” he added.
Source: classfmonline.com
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The black man is just sstupid...you people just talk and talk and wallow in poverty....other countries are using plastic waste to produce blankets and rain coats...what do we see in our gutters? We have bamboo everywhere in Ghana that can be used to produce household stuff....but what do we see? We have clay that can be used for red bricks and ceramics,but what do we see? We have salt that can be used for so many things....we have almost everything yet we there are no jobs....Ghanaians are just talkatives,thievës,fffoolish,hypocrites and lazy !!!
Anytime this man says the truth, people insult him, but this is exactly what is happening in our country. Why wont we be patriotic a little and accept the truth as it is?
Don't buy his ***barred word***. There's too much corruption is the world, not Ghana alone...but Ghanaians have to understand that no one would fix the country for them but themselves. Everyone being paid should use his/her salary to cater for himself/herself not the government giving out houses, gas, free electricity, houseboy, drive etc...that's is milking the economy and there's no way the country can survive. Congress men in the USA use their pay to cater for their families except for the highest echelon. The monies the government pays for these unnecessary services is milking the country dry. Buying expensive cars is another headache while school kids can't get books and computers for their studies.
You've touched raw nerves with this hard hitting truth. Thanks.
Ouch! Truth hurts!
WHAT IS MR BENJAMEN SAYING THE BRITISH ARE MORE CORRUPT ON PAPER AND POLITICALLY MORE THAN WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GHANA AND YOU GET GHANAIANS WHO SUPPORT HIM - THE LOW BLACK MAN MENTALITY THE BRITISH ARE CORRUPT GO TO THEIR EMBASSIES AND THEY RIP OFF GHANAIANS HOW MUCH GOLD AND WEALTH DID THEY NOT PLUNDER FROM WEST AFRICA THE BRITISH ARE DOING WELL TODAY BECAUSE OF WEALTH FROM AFRICA WHICH THEY USE FRAUDLENT, DIPLOMATIC MEANS TO PLUNDER ***barred word***
Am alreeady in larme......i salute your frank speaking.Thank you SIR and hope Nana Addo will be touched by your statement and go on to redress this situation.
I totally agree with every bit of it but I know the pundits will be out insylting you. People's lifestyles change overnight after a political appointment and no one questions it. MPs are flying rented airplanes to their hometown constituents instead of commercial transportation and no one wonders where the sudden affluence comes from. We are corrupt to the core and you are 100% right They will insult you but they all know that you are right. God Bless you!!
Ghanaians are culturally shy to openly talk about corruption and ***barred word*** because most of them benefit from it. In Ghana today, public service is an avenue to steal money to show off in church and social places. The clergy , civil servants, politicians, chiefs and kings all benefit from the loot from the public purse. The population has become used to it. Whistleblowing etc is not taught in the Ghanaian psyche. The judiciary is politically polarized and not independent. Members of Parliament fail to pass laws that check corruption because they benefit from it. Dumsor will never be solved because that is the way to shut down computers from running that hugely depends on electricity. So the whole corruption thing in Ghana is institutionalized . It is beneficial to the people. They love it because they benefit from it. It is supported by European business men who come to Ghana and Africa to ply their trade. Recent colonialist draining the swamp from our forests in search of natural resources is the Chinese. Any one wondering why Ghanaian authorities cannot do anything about it? Because they benefit from it. It is all about chop, chop. This is the tragedy of the commons.
...Did you just observed this?