A former board chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and Chairman of Yamson and Associates, Dr Ishmael Yamson, has bemoaned the decline in virtue among politicians and warned that the nation risks an uprising if political figures do not change their selfish desires and work in the supreme interest of the nation.
Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Wednesday 17 May, Dr Yamson warned that the nation was “sitting on a time bomb” as citizens in the nearest future will not sit aloof but vent their anger and frustration at political heads.
He told show host Moro Awudu: “In Ghana, the more corrupt you are, the better person you are. The more corrupt you are, the more respected you are. The more corrupt you are, the more offers and opportunities come your way because you can go round, your children will be employed, your family members will be employed.
“When the changeover of government came, I heard people ask: ‘Why haven’t I got a job, why haven’t I been given a job because I’ve worked hard for the party?’ But you work hard for the party for a specific purpose or you work hard for the party because you were promised something and whether you qualify or not because you’ve worked for the party you must get it. And I think it’s something that the two political parties need to take seriously because they can’t go on like this, it will not last, it just won’t last.
“Because there is so much that unemployed people in the street can take. These days, with the slightest problem there is huge commotion… So we need to understand that we are sitting on a time bomb. So if our politicians will not begin to think like entrepreneurs, will not begin to think selflessly, will not begin to think that we have a country to build and that it’s not about ourselves, I can tell you that we will just be going round in circles and very soon maybe who knows you will not be able to survive the corruption and the havoc that will follow…”
