Ghana under the hammer: From slavery to freedom and back to slavery

So the US military base (bah, call it whatever you want) thing is really going to happen, right? What do I think? Seriously speaking, Ghana practically has no leaders, properly so called, and has even fewer thinkers.

Politicians play us around like a ball on a ping-pong table. And yes, if the NDC were to be in power, I'd bet my bottom dollar they'd probably be doing the exact same thing the NPP is doing right now, singing the same loony jazz.

I feel so sad as a Ghanaian, right now. I read of people saying the Americans cannot test bombs here - at our airport; but do they need to do that in order to influence or undermine what we stand for? Do we have the capacity of Germany, Japan and other powers that deal with big brother USA in this way? Have we not heard of how America got into Germany's bad books for spying as recently as 2015 when it was revealed that America's National Security Agency had been spying on German officials, and according to German magazine, Der Spiegel, which used information gleaned from files stolen and leaked by Edward Snowden, that the NSA was intercepting even German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone communications! Yes, I know that even from afar the US can glean secret information on Ghana; but I guess their coming this close, to our very doorsteps, offers much more comfort, doesn't it?

But what are the benefits the likes of Germany, Japan and other such technologically-advanced countries are deriving from such deals? And us? What are we getting from this one-sided agreement? A mere pittance! 20 million measly dollars! The Seychelles kept India at bay when it was offered a whopping $550 million - for just one of the archipelago's many islands. Not Ghana! We are as cheap as pancakes. Bring it on! $20 million is all we need! You can have the whole thing - signed, sealed and delivered! Sellouts! Bloody butchers! That's what our politicians are.

NPP and NDC - they are all the same to me! They carve out the wealth of this country and split it among themselves; and of course, you and I, the ordinary folk, are saddled with the unsavoury consequences. Robert Nesta Marley's song, "Crazy Baldhead," comes to mind - the only difference here being that the baldheads are men and women of our own number, not some foreigners. And to cap it all off - to add insult to injury - to show just how little we are in the eyes of Uncle Sam - to make indelible in our minds just how ignoble the US thinks we are, Robert Porter Jackson, the American ambassador here, was able to speak up and say $20 million was the best his country could do for us - that it was all a very good deal. Somebody please ask him whether his country would accept such a deal. Horsefeathers!

There are many covert ways of sabotaging, meddling with and unduly influencing a country. If for nothing at all, we should maintain our dignity. We are acting like mendicants who cannot survive without outside help. And there I was thinking we were on the path to becoming a country beyond aid! Silly me! Don't get me wrong - I do realise we shall not "go beyond aid" in a month or even many years; I also know that practically speaking, since no country is an island, no state can meet the idealistic goal of being totally free of any sort of foreign aid. The USA knows that better than I do. You may have your own thoughts concerning the Tanzanian and Rwandan presidents; but can the USA attempt these shenanigans, this downright treachery it is foisting on us, in Magufuli's Tanzania or in Kagame's Rwanda? Nkrumah's Ghana would have had more pride. We would have esteemed ourselves more.

But hey, why am I so bothered anyway? How many are not merely watching goings-on through political lenses? How many, who excoriated the erstwhile administration for the Gitmo 2 deal, now miraculously think this current one (which I believe is a far worse deal by the way) is just a peach? God save us! I literally flayed the Mahama government for that deal - the evidence is etched in history because my voice is on record. My position has not shifted. Whether back then or right now, I speak what I honestly feel, based on the facts available. Our hypocrisy is frankly beyond fathoming, really. How Nkrumah must be shifting in his grave right now! It seems, rather curiously, that as we grow older as a country, we become ever less prudent and ever more beggarly. Is this what we fought for independence for? To be at the beck and call of a foreign power?

Many able-bodied youth are unemployed; inflation has a way of running amok in this country; some schools are still under trees; quality healthcare cannot be accessed as easily as it ought; criminal activities are on the rise; our problems are hydra-headed... And yet we choose not to pay any real attention to these. We rather have to use up precious time we could have spent discussing and acting on our national problems on something as wasteful as this virulent military deal. But yet again, I have to check myself. Who even cares what the heck I think anyway? Who am I, huh? Does my voice even matter? I shall have my proverbial say, yes, but the powers that be will go full steam ahead to have their dubious way.

I have absolutely nothing against the USA; that country has developed on the back of a lot of strife, hard work, persistence, great social systems (though things have been changing for the worse over the years) and good leadership (which is proving to be a headache for that country today - I'm sure you understand precisely what I mean). But the fact is, did they get to where they have by looking out for the interests of others? That is the question we really should be asking ourselves. One thing anybody who gets on the defensive when talk of how much this deal stinks should consider is, "Is the USA so interested in the well-being of Ghana that it is doing us this HUGE FAVOUR, even throwing in a FEW BUCKS out of a charitable heart, so we can be better off?" As sure as the sun is to rise in the east and set in the west, I say it is not the case!

Whoever thinks we are so gullible that this can be forced down our throats without our offering as much as a whimper of disapproval has got another thing coming. One thing is certain: as much as I respect the American people and what they stand for as well as the many good things they have done, history and experience have taught me that when the USA feeds you breakfast for just one morning, you had better have it in mind that its lunch and supper will be on you for a week at the least. If you don't understand what I am saying, get a good book on International Relations to peruse.

As for the Minister of Defence, I actually pity the "brother man." Each time he tries to defend the indefensible I begin to wonder, "Is he really the Minister of Defence of Ghana?" But maybe you're right. Maybe I'm being too hard on him. He's just doing what he has to; he is the minister of DEFENCE, after all. Ha! And someone should please tell the Minister of Information to be more on top of issues; when he speaks on some matters, sometimes, I begin to wonder whether he isn't deliberately misinforming us all. Whether a document was leaked or not is not an issue of concern right now (how many times did we not see same when the NPP was in opposition?); what is under scrutiny is the shady, inimical nature of this deal, which is why some of us are kicking against it with both feet and hands (if hands can kick, that is).

These, by the way, are my own thoughts - the fruit of my blunt mental ruminations. This has nothing to do with the media group I work for, so keep it out of this. But if some thin-skinned politician who feels too scathed by my words will be petty enough not to grant me interviews the next time I call, so be it. The news will go on. I shall not be muzzled when I know I ought to speak out. These words may push you to think deeper into all this; they may shock you, stir you into action, or even upset you. The bottom line is this: I want you all to come aboard and not only think through but speak out on this matter; history is being made, and if we do not keep in line those on whom we have devolved our sovereign powers - those whom we have charged to act in our best interests, we could be laughing on the wrong ends of our mouths someday when the annals are read.

I still dream of #WakandainGhana. I still contemplate #BlackPantherKwameNkrumah. How low we have fallen! Hmmm...

Source: Benjamin Akakpo