The Power Of Poverty...In Africa.

I've been having a series of conversations with people about the economic crisis in Ghana, specifically the cedi depreciation and crazy unexpected hikes in fuel prices almost every quarter or so.

The conversation diverted to the story of a young man who called a number, thinking it was that of an advertised witch doctor, and was ready to sacrifice his mother's life to become wealthy. Fortunately, the stranger intercepted quickly by involving the police who apprehended the young man when he actually brought his mom to be killed.

The point of the story is, poverty can make anyone do the unthinkable to survive and some of our leaders are proof of that: the corruption, poor policies that hurt the economy and people and only benefit those in power, the never-ending witness of leaders becoming more and more wealthy by the day and the average Ghanaian still wondering where the next meal will be coming from or how to manage that GHC400 monthly salary with a wife and two kids.

This is serious business.

What we all agreed on was that poverty has a lot of influence in the actions we tend to see in our leaders, unfortunately. The propensity to be greedy and keep it all to yourself - as displayed by many of our leaders.

What does the country Ghana need at this point in time? There are numerous ideas floating in my head; I just don't think I can scribble them here now.