Life is a big puzzle indeed!

It takes a very intelligent and wise person to say that he does not know. Life is a big puzzle indeed! It takes some guidance and I wish the young ones behind see that. I have found in life when I open my mind and say that I don't know, solutions eventually come! I don't know if you have read my most painful statement in my life, that I am giving up on Ghana. My house and Flats are on the market for sale as shown below. I was not blessed with a stable job, perhaps part of my lessons in life, and I put all my life savings into building Real Estate in Ghana for my retirement, with a Main House, offices and rental units for income; but I can't live in Ghana under the current living conditions after all that investment for Power Generators, Water Tanks and Reservoirs, etc, etc. I get too frustrated! Every time I am in Ghana I am fighting the system! In 2010 I carried a bag full of rotten food from my fridge to the EC Manager and Joy-FM heard about it – it became big news. I am or shall we say prefer to be a very private person and enjoy that if you know me. I prefer to walk around in blue jeans and slippers without anybody recognizing me! To be honest with you, and not endorsing his style, I understand what Kwabena Kennedy Agyapong said,, the man did not really imply what he said! I have a lot of experience dealing with people and I know men who are serious. What Kennedy said was not serious,, but an expression of frustration as a Member of Parliament who is perhaps rich and owns a TV and Radio stations but not listened to when he uncovers fraud in the system and abuse. Mike, for the young men in Ghana one of the core reasons we have not had a war is the elections! They look forward to it! As such, it is better to do what you are afraid of: ' Turning the anger into a 'No' vote for the government or becoming apathetic?' Trust me it is far better for a young man to put his anger into a vote to change officials of government – than get into more violence, such as beating their women or drugs and violent crimes as we see in America! I am not sure if you have read Courage in the past making statements like he is prepared to die! I have been providing some free Counseling to him behind the scene,, and I sincerely admire him and the life he went through. He completed St.7 and became a Drivers mate – remember the old bone-shaker mate in the village? Yes! Of all the young men who did not even get a chance to go to Secondary School, he is the smartest I have met, very articulate, can write very good English, express himself well, and taught himself to use the Computer and worked for an Internet Café and acting as Private Investigator also. He married a British white woman and they even came to my office in East Legon in 2010. Like everybody else he had a few problems that I was advising him on,, but that is private matter. He wanted to stand as Assemblyman in his area, and later even as MP. Personally if things had gone the way planned, he is a person whose talents one can invest in. If you ask my proposed solution to the Quagmire, I'd say it is Decentralization! Human beings work closer to their own people in towns and villages and democracy works that way, from the bottom up! This has nothing with tribes but mere proximity to their own needs. The American success story in the last 250 or so years from the jungles of North America is the best example! Look at these people we are here with. They have no King and no Chiefs! And yet every town has their elected Mayor and city council and every one of them have a budget, Police force, Library and School district, underground sewage and sidewalks for walking and bicycles, and decent roads linked to State and Interstate National Highways! It is an incredible experiment and others do not realize the secret!! I have offered to help' but waiting for the opportunity. I have a model budget and programs even done. VP John Mahama's brother is a transportation Engineer here, a friend, and ask if he has ever been called to offer any advice! Tweaaaa!! These people! Once people elect their own Mayor and pay their taxes, and pay for their own police, teachers, and City Councilmen and women, you will see the responsiveness. Trust that I won't mind paying say $100, $200, per year or more to my village as my contribution even though I don’t live there,, just to help. Most of you would pay also. I know Kwame Nkrumah tried to blend all of us into one, which is a good idea and he did not name the districts and regions according to tribal names (except Ashanti). What he made a mistake on was not allowing each town, district and Region to elect their own City/town council and executive members, in addition to the MP who came to live in Accra. In the mean time he disabled the Chiefs, and so now we have people living in Abetifi, rich folks building houses I cannot afford in America and waiting for water from Atta Mills or Kufuor! It is the greatest nonsense in the world!! These people are not assessed any property taxes one can even write down! It needs to change but you can’t do it sitting in Accra in a slave Castle asking a 25 year old to talk big English! It is very simple but also very complicated with legal puzzles between Regions, Districts, Town, and what percentage of the taxes collected stay within town and what goes to central government, etc, etc, and our leaders simply have no experience doing it! Once we find a Leader sincere about change, trust that it is not that hard at all! No Physics, no Calculus, and no complicated Shroedinger Equations involved at all!! I can wake up at 3am and help them design the system and budget and database. Elementary! As Sherlock Holmes would say. We can create more jobs, stimulate our economy and double our GDP in three years if we do this! Kwaku A. Danso, M.Eng., PhD