'Ghana’s Politicians Have Lost Focus'

A senior business leader has warned of dire consequences if Ghana’s politicians are not reined in from the dangerous path they are leading the country on.

According to Captain Budu Koomson (Rtd), Chief Operating Officer of UT Holdings, Ghana’s political system needs a radical overhaul to save it from impending doom.

Speaking on the Management Development Series segment of the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday June 28, Capt Koomson expressed concern about what he calls a worrying trend in Ghana’s politics which extends to the attitude of governments towards locally established businesses.

He said Ghana’s politicians have lost focus and are only interested in engaging in politics of insults, vindictiveness, hatred, greed and violence, and cautioned that a continued adherence to ‘politics as usual’ would spell doom for the nation.

“Look at our politicians. In fact if we do not introduce changes and new ideas in the way we are doing our politics and governance in Ghana, God forbid, we may very well lose Ghana. We have to innovate or die. Change the way we think, the way we do things or Ghana will die. It may sound catastrophic but its possible" he noted.

“I mean with our politics of lies, politics of hatred, politics of greed, politics of insults, politics of threats. Sometime ago I heard about Azorka Boys, in what context? Then came Bamba Boys, with what meaning? Then we heard the almighty ‘All die be Die’. Now the latest kid on the block is Heroes or martyrs Fund. What are we doing to ourselves? Are we tempting destiny? If we don’t change this mindset we are going to kill the country one of these days" he warned.

“We have politics of abuse of power, politics of adulation- we worship people until they think they are gods and suddenly when we strip away the adulation people now have withdrawal symptoms… Politics of vindictiveness, ‘we should jail our opponents by all means, whether fair or foul’, and if you don’t do it you lose your own constituents.

“Let us look at this vindictiveness. When the whole world is innovating, and improving and growing and doing things, we are hell bent on killing our own innovation, on killing our own efforts. We have the story of Dr Safo Adu and his International Commercial Company: vindictiveness killed it, for whatever reason. Appiah Menka with his Apino soap. These are companies that are indigenous, thinking and trying to do something, we kill it ourselves. B.A. Mensah and International Tobacco. J. K. Siaw and Tata Brewery.

“This vindictiveness, if we do not stop, Ghana is not going anywhere. It’s a cycle, and it has to be broken" he noted.