Killing the system by “Big men”

Largely, the “big men” can be found in the media, politics, religion, business, the security and public services as well as chieftaincy.

Many people in these areas, particularly the leaders, think that they should have everything at the snap of their fingers. I did not say all of them-o-o-o, h-a-a-a! I said some of them!

They go to all lengths to literally tear down systems that the country has developed over time to keep the engine of the state running.

This is why a businessman could allegedly pick up a phone and call a deputy director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ask him to “assist” a drug pusher to use the VVIP Lounge at Ghana’s only international airport to smuggle cocaine to the United Kingdom and eventually embarrass all of us, especially the government.

Recently, a Ghanaian woman, Ms. Nayele Ametefe was arrested in the UK with cocaine, while travelling from the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on an Austrian passport.

She was busted with about 12 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Heathrow Airport on Monday, November, 10, 2014.

The way this alleged trafficker went about the “business” with so much confidence clearly showed that there might have been some “big men” behind her. It is not surprising, therefore that some “big men” have been picked up for questioning.

The Ghanaian system is so weak and leaky that anybody at all can get away with anything at all! This is why some big men have the guts to go to police stations to see other big men there and arrange for suspects to be freed. Prosecution and for that matter due process of the law is thus thrown to the dogs.

This is why there are reports of individuals holding as many as three Ghanaian passports at the same time; with different names and addresses. If the system works very well how can that happen?

This is why we have so many square pegs in round holes in all areas. “Whom you know” can get you the top job – easily! This particular issue is so serious that it has affected the operations of many private and state-owned enterprises to the extent that nothing seems to be working in this country.

It appears as though after general elections, the winning party simply lists the people who made the most noise during the electioneering period and gives them jobs, only for them to mess up, BIG TIME!

The big man syndrome or ‘bigmanism’ is very dangerous because it allows a few people to informally capture the administration of the state through patronage networks.

According to an article in Wikipedia, when this happens, “The distribution of the spoils of office takes precedence over the formal functions of the state, severely limiting the ability of public officials to make policies in the general interest of the people.

Sometimes, the ability of public officials such as the President of the Republic to take bold decisions and fire solid actions to put the nation on track is undermined.

There is “a joke” in this country about a President who appointed an individual to an office, and when that person reported to the office to assume his new position, there was another person already in the seat. The latter had been “appointed” by a big man in the President’s team, obviously, without consulting him.

And the funny part of the “joke” is that when the President heard about the development, all he reportedly said was, “Awww, so, so and so is worrying me-o-o-o!”

And that ended the matter? Well, I do not know how that issue was resolved but the element of ‘bigmanism’ was clearly at play.

Sometimes too, some leaders become so powerful that they take the establishments that they lead as their personal property and that too tends to destroy the systems put in place to keep the institutions or countries running.

Obviously, if we allow “the big men” to have their way all the time, they will crash the system and we, the ordinary people, will suffer while they enjoy life blissfully with their associates. We’ve got to check them before they wreck the system.

Catch me here: Wasiedu@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @WillieAsiedu.