Mensah Thompson of ASEPA writes...

This week Twitter has gone agog about a youth based Campaign that seem to be catching fire by the day, the hashtag fix the Country has been on the number one trends since Monday and it’s only getting hotter by the hour.

As usual Government’s response to this bitting hashtag has been to release its attack dogs operating mainly from the Jubilee House, feeding on our taxes to start a counter hashtag dubbed FixYourSelf.

In effect what these polished rifraffs are telling the suffering Ghanaian complaining today is to shut up because he is part of the problem.

Folks, this where I would have lost it, but I won’t...atleast not yet, I’m going try and keep this as civil as possible.

Folks in 2017 when the President took over and told us that he was in hurry and started borrowing left right center, and so if the economy is in a mess today, is that the fault of Ghanaians?
When his appointees started stealing left right center, collecting bribes from every Tom Dick and Harry, scaring investors away from the Country, were Ghanaians part of the bribe collection scheme or they shared their booty with Ghanaians?

When they started awarding road contracts to their side chicks, who then collects 25% mobilization fee from the Ministry of Finance, pockets it and then go and sell the contract to someone else with no revenue to start the project, leaving almost 65% of road contracts awarded since 2017 uncompleted till date, and so if today our roads as bad it can be, is that the fault of Ghanaians?

When in 2019 you went around in arms begging to build a cathedral, destroyed houses belonging judges, commit almost $100million for this destruction whiles was your hospital lack beds and basic facilities, and so if today pregnant women in labor are sleeping on the floor in hospitals because there are no beds, is that the fault of Ghanaians?

Again in 2019, when they told us that the previous Government has procured excess power that we don’t need and so decided to sell the excess power to neighboring Countries and collected the money in their pockets (because as we speak that excess power still remains unaccounted for in the books of VRA), and so if today we are in dumsor, is that the fault of Ghanaians?

The fundamental question is, is this not the same Ghanaian, that lived under Nkrumah, Rawlings, Kufuor, Mills and Mahama?
So in 2003 when Accra was at the peak of it’s water crisis and there were calls on the Kufuor Government to fix the problem and provide water for the people, did President Kufuor tell us to fix ourselves first?
In 2015 under President Mahama, when dumsor got to its peak, and there were cries and demonstrations all over, did President Mahama tell the celebrities and the people who took to the streets to hold night vigils to fix themselves first?

Did these reckless promoters of the fixyourself campaign just realized that Ghanaians are lazy, do not pay taxes, are not morally upright?

When they hid behind Occupy Ghana to flood the streets of Accra to bemoan high cost of living and increases in fuel prices, were Ghanaians morally upright then?
Were Ghanaians paying taxes then?
Were Ghanaians not lazy then?

Folks the current challenges confronting our Country is not as dangerous as the condescension that has met the #FixIt campaign from the side of Government, it strikes as a total lack of sensitivity towards the plight of the Citizenry and it does appears that the Government is more interested in winning a social media war rather than the real war, the war against poverty, corruption, injustice, oppression, dumsor and high cost of living for which Ghanaians are up in arms in the first place.

And anytime a Government’s focus is on what his people are saying and how it can counter/censor it instead of what the people are eating/living and how it can improve it, it’s clear indication of a complete loss of touch with the people and their realities.

From where I sit, I am not more concerned about what Government will do or will not do about this situation, at least the last four years has taught us that this Government cannot fix anything, not even their own mess, what I am more concerned about is the tolerance level of the public that is fast dwindling...
The people are fast becoming impatient of the corruption, nepotism, inefficiencies, mismanagement, unemployment, high cost living , dumsor etc

I do not know how long the people can tolerate this nonsense going on and how much more insults they are willing to accommodate in the face of these difficulties, cos this time it looks like we are in for a long roller coaster ride of hashtags, hashtags that would eventually turn into “street tags” and I don’t envy the Government at all...
In fact my prayers are with the Government at this moment, they need it more.

But by the way, can we #FixThePresident too?
Can #GabbyShutUp as well?
Can OppongNkrumah #BeTruthful a little bit?
Can AnnorDompreh #DontInsultUs anymore?
Can Bawumiah #FixTheCurrency for once?
Can the NPP National Executives #StopTheGalamsey ASAP?

Before they tell us to fix ourselves?

Mensah Thompson
Executive Director,ASEPA