My younger brother, Bernard Whyte, was one of two local players to make it into the Black Stars team for Senegal 1992. He was the only player who played all the qualifying and friendly matches leading up to the tournament and was simply at the top of his game.
When the team arrived in Senegal, a highly respected member of the management team came to him and said, “Bernard, you have played every match, friendly or qualifier. You must be tired.” Bernard replied, “Well, it has been a very busy schedule, but that is why we are here and I am ready and looking forward to a great tournament.”
The next day was Ghana’s first group match. When the team selection was released, Bernard was devastated to find that he was not on the starting eleven. He had been benched. As he struggled to process this development, another member of the management team said to him, “Bernard, I am so disappointed with you. How can you complain that you are tired and want to be rested for the first match?”
Apparently, the first management team member, in ensuring that the Black Stars did not get too far in the tournament, had succeeded in getting Bernard, one of the key defenders in top form, benched.
In his book 'Deep Down My Heart', Professor Frimpong-Boateng narrates how someone opposed the setting up of the cardio unit at Korle Bu and advised the government to assign him to the veterinary hospital to operate on animals.
But for the timely intervention of Dr. Mary Grant, there would not have been a cardio centre in Ghana today. The man who gave that advice was a highly respected physician consultant who was consulted on anything that had to do with health.
There is a Ghanaian that we never talk about. In the United States there is a type of person called “Karen.” She is not one individual but a type, usually a white lady who loves to get people, especially Black people, into trouble by calling the police on them or fabricating false reports about them.
Well, we also have a type in Ghana. But unlike the currents of the U.S., he is not against a race but against progress and anything that works in Ghana. I call him Okukuseku.
If Ghana has not lived up to her fullest potential, Okukuseku is responsible for that. If Ghana is counted among the poor nations of the world, Okukuseku is to thank for it.
When we talk of the poverty and suffering in Ghana, we blame the colonialists and imperialism. We blame the unfair world economic order. We blame corrupt and incompetent politicians. It is true that these have done harm to Ghana in various ways, but the colonial experience is 69 years behind us.
In the same unfair world economic order, some nations that used to be poor like us have thrived and prospered. Why not Ghana? We have changed governments several times and we still have problems. The truth is that we remain stuck in our problems because we blame the wrong culprit.
The real culprits are the Okukuseku’s among us. They work hard to put themselves in positions of power and trust, and then use those positions to obstruct, frustrate, undermine, and destroy anything and anyone who has something to offer Ghana or their institution. They cannot stand people with fresh ideas, people who disagree with them, or young people who want to make a difference. Yet they are so clever that the public never gets to know their true character.
They are not above lying, spreading rumors, and fabricating falsehoods just to sabotage someone or a project. In the public service he is the reason programs and projects never take off, staff morale is low, and grants return unused.The exist in every sector in Ghana including, even religion and their impact is always disastrous.
May God rid Ghana of such people, because if He does not, we can give up hope of Ghana ever making any progress.
Mr. James Ebo Whyte, popularly known as Uncle Ebo White is a distinguished Ghanaian playwright, author, and motivational speaker. He is the artistic director and lead writer at Roverman Productions, where he has been writing and directing plays since 2008. Uncle Ebo White occassionally shares thought-provoking opinion on national issues on his Facebook wall.
