Samuel Esson Jonah, a former president of AngloGold Ashanti and a businessman from Ghana, has claimed that the main obstacle to the nation’s development is the corruption problem.
According to him, Ghanaians’ greed and self-centeredness is to blame for the rising levels of corruption in all spheres of the country’s economy.
Sam Jonah claimed that because people wanted to use their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of the general growth and development of the country, corrupt practices had become the norm among Ghanaians.
Speaking at the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana’s (PSG) 2023 annual general conference, he urged professionals like pharmacists to join the fight against the canker by standing up against corruption and being patriotic.
“Corruption deters domestic and foreign investment, undermines trust in public institutions, reduces economic growth, and sadly makes the lives of the poor even more unbearable. Specifically for your sector, corruption endangers lives through fake and substandard medication, unqualified personnel, and woefully inadequate infrastructure.
“I recognize that each of you as individuals, for one reason or another, may not be able to speak up. If you wonder why I speak my mind, it is because those of us who have benefitted from the kindness of this nation and the long life God has granted us owe a duty to God and our country to speak up not only for what benefits us personally but for what safeguards the entire society.
“Corruption and greed have eaten deep into the fabric of our nation. Young people are fast losing hope and the dignity of labour. Public services, which are already paid for by taxpayers’ money are subject to bribes solicited by public officials in order to speed up processes or to exempt people from necessary procedures,” Sam Jonah noted.
He added that unless the corruption threat is reduced, Ghana will remain a less developed nation.
