Ghanaians may be slow to anger, slow to organise and act — but when they strike, they strike hard!” — Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
What created the citizen action in Kenya, Nepal, Madagascar, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka
Between 2024 and today, a wave of youth-driven protests swept across these nations, reflecting a global "Gen Z" surge against entrenched elites, economic despair, governance failures, and corruption.
All these movements have one thing in common: they begin with a flashpoint of corruption exposure on social media, and they end in either a change in government or a change in the facial composition of some politician.
In Kenya, the Finance Bill 2024, proposing tax hikes on essentials like bread, cooking oil, while inflation stood at 23%, youth unemployment at about 35%, corruption scandals, and police brutality during protest was the strike in the horse's back.
Key Indicators of Ghana's Pre-Election Status
Economy:
Debt default resulting in the death of several old people
23.5% inflation.
The worst cedi depreciation of about 55%.
IMF is bailing out the economy after a series of failed promises.
30% youth unemployment.
Heavy taxation on the poor citizens.
Environmental:
Galamsey polluted close to 70% of water sources with extensive damage in the forest reserves. The problem, however, wasn't the damage but the protection the perpetrators enjoyed from the presidency. The politicians began drinking imported water whilst the ordinary Ghanaians were stuck with polluted water, causing birth defects, kidney failures, and other horrible things.
How did the NDC save the political class from potential "lynching"
At the centre of the thieves is former Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, a cousin of ex-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, who has been declared wanted by the Special Prosecutor for alleged corruption and causing financial loss to the state. Investigators say Ofori Atta oversaw questionable contracts and misused state funds, including a controversial deal with Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited and the unaccounted 58 million dollars spent on the National Cathedral project
Former Minister of State Charles Adu Boahen, has been cited for influence peddling and accepting bribes in exchange for access to top government figures. He denies wrongdoing, but prosecutors say his case fits a wider pattern of corruption under the previous administration.
New Patriotic Party power broker Bernard Antwi Boasiako, known as Chairman Wontumi. His associate, Thomas Andy Owusu, pleaded guilty to bribery and illegal mining-related offences earlier this year. Wontumi himself has been charged with facilitating unlicensed mining and the illegal assignment of mineral rights. He has been granted bail of fifteen million cedis and had his passport seized
Hanan Abdul Wahab, former head of the National Food Buffer Stock Company, is facing prosecution for allegedly diverting seventy-eight million cedis meant for school feeding programmes into private accounts. The Economic and Organised Crime Office has frozen his assets, including houses, cars, and bank accounts.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, former Education Minister, is also under investigation for a sixty-three million cedi contract for mathematical sets awarded without competitive bidding. The probe has raised questions about how educational procurement was managed under Akufo-Addo’s leadership.
Former NSB Boss Kwabena Adu Boahen profited ₵39 million from the Cyber Systems Software. Attorney-General estimates that up to GHS 62 million was siphoned from the Ghana Water Company Limited into the private accounts of ex-National Signals Bureau Boss, Kwabena Adu Boahen. At least GHS 1.3 million every month by Ghana Water Company Limited into Kwabena Adu Boahen’s accounts.
The twist is that there are more audit reports to be released, and the atmosphere in Ghana would have been different if the erstwhile government were still in charge of affairs.
