Open Letter To All Public Officers In Ghana From 1957-2017
Dear My Most Eminent Fellow Citizens,

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, the President of the Republic,
1. His Excellency, the former President, (Flt Lt ) John Jerry Rawlings
2. His Excellency, the Former President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor
3. His Excellency, the former President, Mr. John Dramani Mahama
4. Her Lordship Mrs. Georgina Wood, Chief Justice of the Republic
5. His Excellency Professor Mike Ocquaye, The Speaker of Parliament
6. The Asantehene,Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu The Second.
8. Togbe Afede XIV, President of the National House of Chiefs and all the  Nananom and Nanahemaa Nom,  traditional leaders in Ghana etc.

9.The Chief Imam of the Muslim Community in Ghana, Dr. Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu

10. The Eminent Clergy, The Christian Council of Ghana and all  Heads of Christian Churches in Ghana

11. The Academic Heads,Professional Bodies and Institutions……………..!

I am writing this open letter first and foremost to all our past Presidents and the heads of the other arms of government, the Judiciary, the Legislature and eminent persons I have specifically addressed. At the same time, to any Ghanaian who is still alive from the time we had our independence in 1957 until today, who by the benevolence of the Republic had been educated to any tertiary level or professional expertise or skill or training to enable them occupy any position in the Civil service or the public service. In effect, I am referring to anybody in Ghana who had served Ghana in any capacity either as in the strategic level, tactical or middle level or operational level of decision making. It means that, if you have taken any of the decisions that impacted, affected or influenced the life of any Ghanaian, whether the impact was positive or negative, this letter applies to you too.
We are mandated by the UN Charter on Fundamental Human Rights as well as the Gold Coast Aborigines Rights Society of 1897 to exist as a SOVEREIGN independent state to make laws to guide and protect us and our natural resources. No international institution had issued a caveat or lien on our national borders, it means that, the supreme document that we all have agreed to as the SOVEREIGN document is our Constitution of 1992. From the foreword of  the Constitution until the last chapter,there is no where the framers of the CONSTITUTION say it would be subservient to any other document,real or imagined.

The way I see the present day Ghana, I am afraid we shall wake up one morning to learn the land has been sold to the highest bidder whose only requirement would be, to grease the palms  of all those who have wielded power in any form before in the country and all those who are presently, one way or the other, hold office in the name of Ghana and have the power to take decisions to impact “FAVORABLY” on the part of the FOREIGNER but at the same time, detrimental to the well-being of the able bodied Ghanaians of about THIRTY ONE  million people. To the privileged, selling Ghana to the highest bidder does not entail or warrant any COST at all. After  all they are well stocked and all they need is a diplomatic passport to relocate and enjoy their lives in any part of the world they may choose.
What about Maame Yaa Aduna, who has about eleven children to feed on the meagre two acres of land given to her by her husband?  What about the cassava farmer, the cocoyam farmer, the garden eggs, tomatoes, maize, cotton, shea nut, the cocoa farmer and all those whose OCCUPATION  is the land?

What about the rivers and streams the life blood of these land users? Has any of you sat down to think about these people we see as nothing but needless hazards who are a blot on your drive to make money but nothing else?  When you requested for the highest bidders, did it occur to you that you do not possess the land, the land is being held in trust, you all must safeguard it just as those who shed their  blood because they would not let go of the land did before you.
I am very sad that, education which has enlightened many countries in terms of human and material development, in Ghana, it has turned things upside down and the privileged think it is by their own efforts they are who they are today. What fallacy. In a country where there is no EQUAL opportunity, those who occupy positions should not see themselves as semi gods lording it over the rest of us.
Your education of enlightenment has rather muzzled the rest of us and we are like a sheep being led to the slaughter. You are selling everything Ghana, what can we do? And what have we done to you to deserve this?
I am therefore addressing this piece to you and those of you who have any conscience, should rethink the impending disaster awaiting our “Homeland” Ghana. A future where because of our lack of focused leadership and conscious supervision, we have rendered our land another  “GHANA DESERT” just like the Sahara.
Who  am I ?:
MY PROFILE:
I was born on 22 February 1952 at Sekyedomase, Ashanti
Primary Education: Sekyedomase Presbyterian (one month), Kade Presbyterian from 1960-1966 at the age of eight and half years.
Middle School: Kade Presbyterian Middle from 1966/67 to 1970
Secondary School: None
Passed Common Entrance :1967 Konongo Secondary School
1968 Asanteman Secondary School
1969 Osei Kyeretwie Secondary
1970 Kumasi High School ,but in all those hardwork and success, nobody took me to secondary school.
OTHERS:
1973, Successful at the Police recruitment exercise at Akim Oda (came out 2 out of 40 prospective recruits and among 10 sent to Police Depot in Accra and I am still waiting for the letter of recruitment and training.
1974, Ghana Armed Forces: Passed all the relevant exams including first stage screening, aptitude test of various kinds, written tests, medical, X-ray, uniform and boot sizes. All these exercises conducted at the Military Park of the Kumasi Fourth Battalion under the then Major Prempeh. I am still waiting for the letter of enlistment to start training.

What is the purpose of my profile, to remind you the type of privileged society we live in in Ghana ever since we got our independence. What is my crime that I should not be educated at the second cycle? My father a cocoa farmer all his life and had contributed immensely to the Ghanaian economy through his cocoa produce for well over 50 years of his working life. He was never supported by any government agency when the savannah encroached the EJURA-SEKYEDUMASE belt and he and all those Cocoa farmers lost their livelihood to the desert. It means when I needed to go to secondary school, he had not the means to have taken me.When he died in 1991, he was struggling to make ends meet doing palm wine tapping at the age of 87. Meanwhile, this was somebody who contributed to our GDP over a sustained period both in the Gold Coast and Ghana.Most of you and your children rather benefitted but I was not reckoned to be of importance not even the Cocoa marketing board scholarship, once again high jacked by the lucky privileged few.

Why? Just because he was a farmer who had no connections in the Ghanaian society. He died a pauper in 1991, dejected and rejected by the very country his cocoa farms had supported all his working life. We have a cocoa marketing board scholarship that should be disbursed to the children like my case so that I could have been sent to secondary school but in Ghana, the RESOURCES are always for the privileged and one is cursed if they fall outside that class. And these are the same people, my father toiled day and night to support so that they had the chance to better education and job opportunities, thinking they would in-turn create enabling environment for him to prosper as a cocoa farmer. He expected a Ghana, his children and the children of his peers and age mates could have chartered a smooth and prosperous lives for their children.
My father was looking for a leadership that would introduce measures to put the revenue from his arduous work in a pot that could be shared equitably for all the people of Ghana. My father was not alone, but millions like him, who were helpless as their enthusiastic, energetic and dedicated academically gifted children who wanted to be educated but had to settle in the palm wine bars drinking their lives away because of NEGLECT by the Ghanaian ruling class. Oh, people like Ampong Wilson, a gifted academic brain who could have been a top scientist but had to settle for “akpeteshie” “doka and palm wine” which would  wear him down physically and psychologically until he died around 1977. Why? A child of a poor cassava farmer who could not pay the fees for  Ampong to go to secondary school his only wish in life. How about Ransford Opoku Amponsah and Joseph Mensah? We were the outstanding pupils of class of 1970 at Kade Presbyterian Middle but were rejected by a system designed for the privileged and those with connections.

What do we have? The family lands bequeathed to us by our fathers and today, for no sin committed, the same ruling class have invited China and the rest of the world to come and destroy it for us. As for most of you, you have the resources to go and enjoy your foreign savings but what about us? It means, you are all determined that wherever we turn, you are ready to make life difficult and hard for us. What offence has the Ghanaian peasant farmer committed against the Ghanaian ruling class? By ruling class I mean all those of you who were educated in Ghana or abroad (Gold Coast) from 1928, the time my father started working as a cocoa farmer contributing to the GDP and foreign exchange earnings of Ghana (Gold Coast) until today. All those who have enjoyed any economic activity from the same period in the public service, civil service, government, the judiciary and the legislature.
You All Sit Unconcerned as Foreigners Have Stolen Our Identity.
I have written many articles on my website: Ghanamindset.com and one that stands out for me was the one I titled:” Lack of Land Tenure Policy in Ghana “ and in that article, I stated the background of the various tribal wars that went on in the land before the advent of 1844 and the various colonial battles between mostly the Ashantes and the British imperialist power. We are very proud that there were some people who cherished the ideal of a united people bound by the same values to dwell in a nation-state as one and thus sacrificed their lives to make that happen. Going forward and still counting, we are sixty  three years now and within that period, there have been a lot of false starts culminating in brutal suffering and untold hardships on the population of the now Republic of Ghana.
For me to say you do not seemed to care will be understatement but the reality of the matter is, even under colonial rule, did the imperialist Britain subject our land to the present treatment spearheaded by nobody else but men and women called Ghanaians whose main preoccupation is the destruction of our land so that they can boast of heavy bank accounts in Ghana and abroad (Foreign Banks). We are so proud to sing patriotic songs deceiving ourselves that we love Ghana but at the end of the day, all we care about is making money to load our bank account.
When my fore fathers were taken into slavery, it was not for anything but their determination to protect their land in the rural communities. Our history tells us that those in the rural communities in the then unnamed land later to be called the Gold Coast, anybody who was seen as a trouble maker in the society, who would impede the progress of the society, was not good to remain in the land, the chief and his elders would sell him off to slave traders and raiders. Why were they doing that? These were farmers who needed peace on the  land to continue their profession, farming. To them, the land was all that they had and any distraction by anybody in that, constituted insubordination, thus the determination to sell them off. You must remember, they did that to protect the Land.
My father told me the various inter village and town wars that were fought as they secured their land. Today, through those sacrifices, we have a new Ghanaian called the elite because they are fortunate to be educated. Fortunate because of who their parents were and the pathway they created for them. Fortunate because they know somebody in high places and thus making connection to position in society  was always assured no matter how weak and irresponsible they might  be, the only criterion to their well-being is the FAMILY CONNECTION. I really do not know what mindset those of you for no fault of yours, who occupy various positions in our public and civil service feel about the rest of US, who by virtue of:
1. Who gave birth to us
2. Where we were born
3. The houses and homes we live in
4. Our means of livelihood
I think most of you think we are all your slaves and that whatever the land possesses, we do not have any stake or share in it. The land mass and all its contents are best reserved for you and your families and your various connections.
Today, you are waging a relentless war but not with guns and ammunition but with the education we all sacrificed for you to have thinking that you would be enlightened enough to make sure that you provided us with protection and the know how to farm our land and make a living to support our children and their children but what do we ge? . You have invited the entire world to come and take away our land from us. Enough is enough and the only way you can have your peace to enjoy your new-found wealth is to leave our land alone.
It is time for each one of you to search your conscience and answer the question: Is it fair for us to treat the over 75% of the people of Ghana, the water they drink, the food they eat and the houses they live in this way? Please, you must for one moment,” put on our tattered garments and feel the pain” we are going through as you remain silent as FOREIGNERS plunder and destroy the very essence of our being, OUR LAND.
Kofi Owusu-Ansah