The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini has blamed the corrupt nature of Ghanaians on some cultural practices.
According to him, the reason Ghana’s fight against corruption seems to be futile is not solely because of politicians.
He argued that the failure is also attributable to the way Ghanaians are socialised.
Mr Suhuyini said it was important for some Ghanaian cultural practices to be reviewed in order to successfully and effectively curb corruption in the country.
He referenced a popular Akan adage, ‘Yɛde nam n’eyi nam,’ which roughly translates to ‘fish is harvested with fish’, and noted that “…Yɛde nam n’eyi nam, perhaps the understanding at the time that it was uttered is different today.
“Today, it means bribery. And it is used to justify bribery as our way of life”, the Tamale North MP stated on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.
To buttress his point, Mr. Suhuyini cited an additional saying that goes, “everybody dey chop for in work side”, which means that every person benefits from their work.
He pointed out that the aforementioned saying is another cliché regarded to be normal and for that reason is used by most people as justification for their corrupt way of life.
Based on these examples cited, Mr. Suhuyini is of the view that the reason no government has been able to find an ultimate solution to corruption is due to these beliefs.
“This is reflected in how since independence, we have changed government either through the ballot or through the bullet, for the same reason, yet, we are still battling without any solution,” he stressed.
