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| Ex- South Korean Premier Chung Hong-won |
“WHAT THE (expletive)!!, was the first words that
dropped off my lips when I heard on Sunday morning via BBC World Service that
the Prime Minister of South Korea, Chung Hong-won has resigned his position
over the recent ferry disaster in which 118 High School students perished with
144 still missing.
I couldn’t believe it that a man of such
stature will resign over an incident he wasn’t directly responsible for. His
resignation statement read in part ‘‘… as I saw grieving families suffering
with the pain of losing their loved ones and sadness…I thought I should take
all responsibility as Prime Minister’. How touching. How humane. How honest.
This demonstrable action by ex Premier Chung
Hong-won CAN”T and WON”T EVER happen here in Ghana, my beloved country, where resignation
by public officials is an abominable act which must be resisted and never be
undertaken by any person who holds power.
Even when the evidence is overwhelming the
person won’t barge. He and his party will employ all the PR tools at their
disposal to deflate responsibility from him. Party spokespersons and apologists
will trek from one radio station to the other defending, lying and ‘correcting’
the narrative.
Here, even junior ministers don’t resign so
for a whole senior official like a Prime Minister resign his post because a
group of young kids have unfortunately perished, when he wasn’t the captain of that ferry and
is not directly connected to the accident is ‘strange’. Yes, the rescue process
wasn’t prompt but then what?!
But here lies the difference in what
politics means to these two set of nations and her leaders. One is there to
serve and protect her people and once he/she feels that responsibility hasn’t
been attained fully, he leaves office. This is not the case in many African
countries. And with such sense of service in mind the development of the
nations in all fronts is not surprising.
Political power isn’t an opportunity to loot
and seek wealth for themselves, families and cronies. It is not the only medium
to be rich within a short time frame. Political power for the leaders of
nations like South Korea is to serve and impact the lives of her citizens. It
is an opportunity to leave behind a legacy for the next generation to
appreciate.
Also, those who assume political authority
are professionals who if the need arises for them to resign would employ their
expertise to pursue equally good careers. That is, they have/had other jobs
before joining the political fray so he won’t resign and go hungry.
In the land of my birth, it is only a stupid
man who would contemplate resigning should he be accused of negligence or
supervise a failed policy programme. Even if he/she wanted to do such certain
forces will prevail on the person to desist.
With such attitudes of those in authority
who on a daily basis make ‘wrong calls’ on issues of national importance, you
shouldn’t be surprised at why our country is still where we are after all these
years.
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| sunken ferry |
Resign? For what? *inserts meme*
ReplyDeleteSo that who would come and chop the money instead? Sake of a few dead people he should forgo that plenty money?
Massa...
"Political power isn’t an opportunity to loot and seek wealth for themselves", i strongly disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the power and money. Difference is some take the power and the money and still manage to do some good to the people. Others just take all the money and get drunk on it. In their drunken stupor they forget the people who put them there.
Remember my blog post "BOAT RACE"? Even the 'good leaders' chopped the money but they made sure their followers chop some
Politics in Ghana is what Rick calls "GABOS" [game ain't based on sympathy]. We do what we can to survive and help those we can. Leadership in this country, at every level in a public office, to me is nothing for our generation to base our progress on.
ReplyDelete