Ghanaians took to the streets of Accra to demand accountability and good governance
A Political Science Analyst, Professor John Osei Bobbie, has urged the #FixTheCountry campaigners to fix their mentality instead of calling on the government to fix the country.
He also urged the youth to rather be innovative and not depend on the government or their parents to provide them with jobs.
Thousands of Ghanaians took to the streets of Accra to demand accountability, good governance and better living conditions from the government through the #FixTheCountry demonstration on Wednesday, August 4, 2021.
The group who appeared in red, gold, green, and black outfits gathered at the Obra Spot near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle at 7 a.m. on Wednesday and headed towards the Black Star Square.
Although the campaigners did not formally present any petition to any government official, they made their concerns known on placards with some daring inscriptions.
Some of these were, “Every Corrupt Act destroys life”, “Corruption has put Ghana in chains”, “Ghana stands against corruption”, “We aim for waakye, they aim for V8”, “Life no balance”, “A new constitution for the people”, “turn all prisons to hotels and put prisoners on state farms”, “stop tribal discrimination”.
Others were, “Pay people to work not to talk”, “Fix Dumsor”, “No revisionism”, “Nkrumah remains the Founder”, “Who killed Ahmed Suale”, “Tribal Politics is backwardness”, “Dishonesty and lack of patriotism gave us year of no return”, “Fix the country, Article 71 is bogus and fraudulent”, “How far with Nam 1”, “Fix our road”, and “Fix the whole country now'”.
Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie, Professor John Osei Bobbie said, “Saying #FixTheCountry is a non-starter, rather, the campaign should be Fix the mentality, the Ghanaian mentality. We, the Ghanaian youth, should fix our mentality.”
He continued that, “We should have a vision. We should be visionary-oriented; someone stands at one place and turns around, we have to move. On the movement, you do not depend on your mother, your uncle, or your family member. What are you yourself doing uniquely for yourself? Some of the youth are coming out with innovative ideas. I was very happy when I saw a Ghanaian youth invent the machine used to crack cocoa; this person needs support. One lady made shampoo with local materials, and I told her to apply for an enterprise programme to get support to do her business, and that should be the course.”
The Professor said he sighted a video where some men took off two metals that covered gutters and put them in a tricycle and sent them away, saying that, “If you do not fix the persons’ mind, how do we move forward? We should be fixing the mind.”