“A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”  Theodore Roosevelt the twenty-sixth President of the United States of America.

The executive arm of the Government of Ghana has, for a long time, been touted as being corrupt. The indiscriminate and unnecessary travels locally and abroad by some public officials, with the objective of maximising per diem allowances as a top up salary, is disgraceful.

This is not all, the many corruption scandals also attest to this. Sadly, Ghanaians look forward to a daily dose of such scandalous revelations. In my opinion, the executive arm of the Government of Ghana has long lost its grip on the fight against corruption since the time of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Some say they are the personification of corruption.

The legislation is also perceived to be corrupt. Many are awaiting their day of reckoning. The mere fact that this perception lingers on in the minds of Ghanaians is in itself worrying. It is alleged that some Parliamentary aspirants won their primary elections contests by bribing and inducing the electorate. Other aspirants are being accused of vote rigging. This development is of grave concern to Ghanaians. Sadly, this trend is across all the political parties.

I need not bruise your sores any further by talking about the recent bribery and corruption scandal among the Judiciary.  Some civil, charitable and religious organisations are the latest to join the bandwagon of corruption. The scale of emerging false prophets is an indication of a decaying society.

Sermons from these self-aggrandised leaders of religious cults are aimed at exploiting and duping the vulnerable in society. Their consciences have been sold to the devil, with the backing of a “powerful few” in society they ride over their congregants with impunity.

They tailor sermons to entrap the vulnerable with fear, solely to exploit them. Their churches are set up as charitable organisations, and yet, they are less charitable in exploiting the poor, widow, sick and down trodden. Ghana looks on unconcerned. These fake prophets are now the untouchables in society. In truth, Ghana may be rotten to the core. Corruption is endemic in Ghana.

How do we win the fight against corruption, if we have started the fight at all? The fight against corruption must first start with the fight against corrupted minds. That is an article for another day.

The institutions in Ghana charged with the responsibilities of protecting the public purse and fighting corruption are very weak, and must be strengthened. Ghanaians, to a large extent, are now dependent on a vibrant and independent media to protect the public purse, expose corruption, and uphold the values in society.

Many in the public are also of the opinion that some journalists have sold their professionalism for pesewas. It is claimed that some government ministries have a percentage of their budget allocated specifically for making payments to these journalists. This is under the disguise of time and transportation expenses (popularly referred to as “soli”). So what is “soli”? “Soli” is an abbreviation for solidarity.

It is money paid journalists with the sole intention of assisting journalists with their logistics cost to and from press conferences. It is now appropriate to redefine it in today’s Ghana as the corrupt practice by which some journalists are paid (and in some cases some journalists insist to be paid) exorbitant money to report a story, even when such stories are in the public interest.

This practice is now widely accepted and endorsed by many organisations, including some government ministries. The size of the money, “Soli”, doled out, makes many believe that the money is to induce and court favourable publicity, rather than assisting them with their transportation cost. This inducement with the tax payer’s money, by a public official is a form of corruption.

Freedom of speech ceases in its worth when that freedom is compromised. Ghana’s democracy will soon be meaningless, unless we are able to root out corruption from society. The Ghana Journalists Association, Ministry of Information and Media Commission must jointly exorcise this demon of corruption from their members.

Where are the new and emerging Kweku Baako, Kwesi Pratt and Nana Kofi Coomson in today’s Ghana media landscape? Presidents, religious leaders and corrupt individuals shivered at the mention of the troublesome three. Ghana needs more serious, dedicated and incorruptible journalists who will expose the deceit of the politicians and the corrupt in society.

We need the likes of Samson Lardy Ayenini, Kojo Yankson and Anas Aremeyaw Anas, among others, to hold public officials accountable to the good people of Ghana. The three arms of government, to some extent, have failed Ghana. Ghana needs the unflinching and uncompromising services of its journalists.

The truth remains that the good journalists research and produce quality work and are rewarded handsomely for their hard work. The lazy and unprofessional journalists are dependent on “Soli” for their remunerations. This corrupt practice must be outlawed. We need serious journalists in Ghana, especially, in an election year. Good journalists investigate and cross-check with the aim of publishing factual information without fear or favour. To the incorruptible few, Ghana salutes you.

I perceive that our founding fathers will frown on this emerging practice. This corrupt practice, providing the avenue for malicious, powerful and self-serving media houses to spin, distort and manipulate information for personal and selfish gain. This is not right, and simply out of order.
God bless Ghana!