THE JAPAN STORY AND GHANA’S MORAL DECLINE
By Enimil Ashon
I read the following from an online portal:
“In April 2025, Japan’s electronic toll collection system failed for nearly two days, forcing toll gates open to allow free passage. Instead of skipping payment, over 24,000 drivers VOLUNTARILY paid their tolls online once the system was restored.”
Netizens see this as an example of Japan’s cultural emphasis on honour and trust, reminding the world that integrity means doing what’s right even when no one is watching.
Fellow citizens, to wish that same is said about Ghana is to wish for the moon. In this country, integrity is a somewhat tarnished coinage.
My point, in this article is one: if we continue at our rate of moral decline, no amount of economic success will turn Ghana into a paradise. Our condition will be like Nigeria during the oil boom: nice high rises, shopping malls filled to the brim with the latest conveniences from Western Europe and America.
But it was “a golden apple rotten at the heart” because that was the period in Nigeria when the word, “419”, was coined.
Are you a Ghanaian? Were you surprised by the March 10, 2026 revelation in Parliament by Deputy Finance Minister in connection with the audit of Nana Akufo Addo government’s IDIF projects?
Delivering a statement on the report of the Auditor-General on arrears and payables as at end-2024, the Deputy Minister revealed that the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2024 submitted a request for GH¢89.4 million to the Ministry of Finance to be transferred to five commercial banks as government contributions toward interest payments under the One District, One Factory (1D1F).
The Ministry of Finance subsequently processed the request to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department for payment. However, he said, “auditors’ verification revealed that none of the five banks had any record of being owed the stated amounts.”
Dear Ghanaian, do you know what this means? Without the auditors’ intervention, the GH¢89.4 million would have landed in the private bank accounts of a handful of politicians, civil/public servants.
The other irregularity involved GH¢10.5 million allegedly paid into a “Buffer Account” at a commercial bank. Upon verification, the bank confirmed it had never received such a payment, and the account number cited did not exist.
They go to church on Sunday; they go to mosque on Friday.
As usual, Ghanaians, in their righteous anger, screamed and banged fists on tables to express their horror and indignation.
When, however, the Minister threatened that “the entire 1D1F scheme will undergo a forensic audit”, Ghanaians laughed. They hear these warnings every year!
Yes, even in our anger and/or sorrow, Ghanaians laugh because it is the only way to maintain our sanity in this never-ending cycle of thievery by a kleptocratic political class in collusion with a corrupt civil service and a business class that has lost all sense of restraint or guilt.
Guilt! Did you say guilt? How else can they land the latest versions of Mercedes, Lamborghini and other 2025-2026 car models; how else can they continue to finance GHc100,000 birthday parties at which, in their inebriate state, they pose for the cameras as they exhibit the latest dance moves.
Who fears forensic audit? With the politician, civil servant and the business mogul hand in gloves in criminal collusion, what is forensic audit. It is mere paper-tiger.
To be sure, not all of the Ghanaian society of today is consumed in dishonesty, but while some years ago you could count on 80 per cent of Ghanaians to do the right thing, today, 20 per cent will be difficult to get.
Our situation is likened to the biblical story where, in Genesis chapter 18, God agrees to Abraham’s plea to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if, at least, 10 righteous people are found within the city. In the process of negotiations, the number had been reduced from 50 to 10. Despite this mercy, fewer than 10 righteous people were found, leading to the cities’ destruction.
Who will deliver us from the grip of this clique of handsome-looking and criminals in suit (three-piece agbada or fugu), with their gorgeous ladies in floor-length gown or evening gowns!
