With all the hoopla of President Obama’s visit to Ghana that has given Ghanaians more Vim as the leader to watch in Africa, it is a shame to hear the stories of my fellow ex-pats returning home to bring their knowledge & enthusiasm to fulfill Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of a self-sufficient  Ghana & ultimately a self sufficient & united Africa in our shared mantra of Forward Ever, Backward Never,  just to be met with the backward slide of greed, corruption, bribery & closed mindedness of our own people who do not seem to realize that Change can only begin within each individual! Ghana & Africa as a whole can not be taken seriously on a global level & be truly open for business when one must bribe everyone from the cleaning lady , to the police, to government officials just to do their jobs & to get basic things accomplished.

Case & point: I was just told by an ex-pat in Ghana that he had to give a bribe of 150GH in order to expedite him getting a GH driver’s license which usually only costs about 4GH because if he didn’t pay the bribe his paperwork would be pushed aside until someone felt like getting to it. I had experienced the same unspoken but suggested demand for bribes as I tried to ship goods I had purchased in Ghana to send back to the USA -which I ended up paying more money in bribes than I had actually paid for the goods that I was shipping, just to be able to expedite the shipping process. On my last trip to Ghana in 08’ I was sitting in my friend’s luxury SUV behind my driver in an old Toyota when we were met with one of the many police road blocks. I watched as the police stood at my driver’s window for about 5-10 minutes in some sort of discussion then they came over to the luxury SUV where I was sitting in -greeted us , looked us up & down & heard our American English & immediately let us proceed to our destination. When we all got home, my driver told me that the police had collected 1GH from him in order to let him go for having one of the lights on the car not working. I couldn’t believe my ears. Why would the police perpetuate such things on their own people who are just as poor as they are & are desperately trying to make ends meet one day at time I asked? I was told this is just part of the way of life in Ghana along with most of Africa.

The police did not perpetuate such demand for bribery on my friend & I in the luxury SUV because they could not be sure that we were not some sort of elite or children of elite & government officials who could get them fired for such illegal activity, so the police are very aware of the illegality of their deeds & carefully choose who to perpetuate it on- the poor, the powerless , the have nots! The last time I was in Ghana right before the elections the GH currency was going dollar for dollar with the American dollar to my amazement because just 8 years prior the the US $ was at least 4X the Ghana Cedi. My pocket was crying because of this change, but my soul & mind was ecstatic about the forward movements of Ghana & the possibility to attain & sustain wealth for all Ghanaians in general with the many business opportunities arising in the new economy of Ghana.

After the loss of NPP , I am now hearing that Forward Ever is now moving Backward rapidly! I was disgusted to pay what amounted to about $50 just for a half tank of gas at a time when my fellow Americans were in an uproar when gas prices rose up to about $4 per unit. I couldn’t believe how cab drivers & my fellow Ghanaians could survive paying such high prices for gas when the average cab fare was about $2-$4. At a time when Ghana is drilling oil, I was ashamed to hear that right before President Obama’s visit that Ghanaian citizens had to push their cars home because there was no petro to be found at petro stations. What was that about-were we saving the Petro for President Obama to take back to the USA as part of the deal for the US aid to Ghana? If so where is all that money that was given for the millennium challenge that was to go to infrastructure, healthcare & entrepreneurships to better the lives of everyday Ghanaians?

I watched as so many Ghanaians & those that love us were filled with jubilation in the great press that was brought to Ghana by President Obama’s visit where he declared that Ghana was the model he wished for all of Africa & that ultimately Africans are responsible for Africa. I walked the streets of New York & had my fellow Africans & others congratulate me for being Ghanaian because of the great press that came from President Obama’s visit. I was gratified by the praises but knew that Ghana still had a long way to go to live up to its potential as the the leader of Africa & the Black Star nation that Dr.Nkrumah had envisioned.

Now all eyes are on Africa & in particularly on Ghana. Africa & Ghana in particular has vast resources of highly educated & intelligent scientists, engineers, agriculturalist & entrepreneurs who are ready, able & willing to fulfill the dreams that Dr. Nkrumah had for Ghana & a united Africa, but they are not given the opportunity & support to thrive in modern day Ghana. Case & point the village of Awukuga & the entire Eastern region were I was raised can become a powerhouse in the new global demand for bio-diesel fuels & alternative energy forms because of the rich soil, people capital, & desire for work, but government has left farmers to fend for themselves in poverty & basic sustainable farming instead of setting up an agency to give loans/grants for training & machinery needed in this new age of technology & demand for the bountiful resources that can be produced in the new world of environmental consciousness. Africa can be the leader in that because we are still virgins in the destruction of our planet & the use of harmful chemicals & pesticides in our farming.

Another case & point : My fellow ex-pat who had become fed up in the lack of attaining his “American Dream” as an Engineer & has come to Ghana filled with love to make a difference in his homeland by providing a service that will truly make Ghana open for business in a new world of technology with high speed internet that is attainable by everyday Ghanaians instead of something that is a luxury for those businesses & individuals who can afford to pay up to 5K a month for the basic service & capabilities to solve the horrific traffic problems in Ghana. As an entrepreneur  he has no place to go to get funding for something that the country desperately needs & can quickly & immediately improve their lives, while creating more business opportunities for the everyday Ghanaian & those who would like to come to Ghana for business opportunities. As an entrepreneur myself in film & media I see so many opportunities to raise the Ghana entertainment, cultural & tourism industry to rival that  that of Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood & many other so called third world countries who have seen their economies quickly grow thru the development of these industries, yet there is no real government agency fully dedicated to making sure Ghana & Ghanaians meet their God given potential. I talked to many artists who did not even know where to go to get copyrights done for their intellectual property.  Ghanians are fighting over land because there is no true structure & computerized or any paperwork to show true ownership of land thereby leaving unscrupulous agents & family members to sell land to multiple sources which has resulted in assaults & sometimes even death. How can Ghana be open for business when business can be disrupted with constant light offs & lack of true infrastructure.

We can not solely blame government for the lack of services when everyday Ghanaians refuse to do their part in paying taxes & contributing to the betterment of our nation. Building multi million dollar homes on unpaved dirt roads is not an improvement or the idea of Forward ever- but if you want good roads you must help government provide that service by paying property taxes! The people of Ghana must hold themselves first accountable for their conditions along with holding their elected officials accountable for the improvements in the quality of life for the everyday Ghanaian which they were elected to do.We must hold Government accountable for the use & misuse of foreign aid that is meant to be trickled down to the everyday Ghanaian’s quality of life & ability to attain jobs in order to sustain themselves, their families & community. This is a battle that must be fought together by the people for the people with the aid of government. We can not just live life for today with a focus on short money & just day to day sustenance , we must live life with a vision for the future of prosperity that will be carried on for many generations after us. As I look forward to hopefully utilizing my entrepreneurial skills for a better forward moving Ghana, I hope I am not left to go back to America with my head down in shame knowing that the nation that raised me with love for country & self with the mantra Forward Ever, Backward Never has no vision, goal nor tolerance for the idea & fulfillment of a future that will truly represent the potential of Ghana that Dr. Nkrumah set forth as the example for all of Africa!

The Blueprint for our Great Black Star Nation has already been written since independence. We must now study it, adhere to it & improve upon it!

Ghana –I dey greet you & look forward to our collective Forwardness!!

With love & the Audacity of Hope-your daughter, your sister, your fellow Black Star

Aretha Amma Sarfo