Dear Mr. President,
It's been a year since millions of Ghanaians, majority of whom were the youth queued in long seemingly unending winding lines to vote for you.
These people believed in your MISSION STATEMENT. YES! They believed in your promises; promises to give them hope for the future.
These promises made them believe they were going to be empowered during your tenure as the President of the Republic of Ghana. I still have very fond memories of that election, covering it as a young reporter. I still remember how vigilant the youth were on that day, hoping their vigilance will yield results once you were elected into power. And oh! How can I forget that fateful day when you were declared president elect of this great nation of ours; the hundreds of youth that designed another wall behind the walls at your residence,that reporters could hardly get through. It was a joyous one that hoped never to disappear.
I remember asking myself very clearly after my duties ended that day, if the joy people expressed at your election was really going to last forever (well, i don't get to have the final say on that). And behold the sight when I finally got to campus after 12midnight...thousands of Ghanaian students rejoicing at the election of their 'saviour' - the only one to take them to that promised land! To think it was examination period and most students were going to be found in the various study rooms making last minute efforts to grab all that was needed before their papers, made their jubilation at such a time even much more profound. They believed they had got the change they really needed! The change from the so called INCOMPETENCE and that from the SYNDROME of a DEAD GOAT...change from UNEMPLOYMENT and CORRUPTION! Yes,they believed they had voted for the change they so needed!
A year on, and many of these students who found time to jubilate throughout the night after your election are serving their nation as service personnel as mandated. I may have my own issues with the motives with which many graduates have national service, but well, that's a story for another day. Many others just want to serve their nation, and in so doing sharpen their skills in preparation for the real world.
My issue today however has to do with the contempt with which service personnel have been and are treated in our nation. Elsewhere, service to your nation doesn't make you any less a citizen/ worker. Elsewhere, you don't need to pay huge sums of money to be posted to an institution which falls in line with your field of study. Elsewhere,you aren't treated with disrespect because you're a service personnel. Elsewhere, you're not prevented from joining the company bus because you're a service personnel. Elsewhere, you're not beaten up to injury by military men just because you're going to register for your national service. Elsewhere, you don't need to wake up at dawn to just to be able to register for your national service. Elsewhere you don't need to wait for weeks and sometimes even months to receive your due allowance.
But well, it seems ELSEWHERE ISN'T GHANA!
And as if that wasn't enough, we proved how different we are from 'ELSEWHERE' by forcing an insurance package down the throat of service personnel. I wonder where in this world that ever happens - anyway we're different from elsewhere!
And we don't hide how different we are from elsewhere when we provide an appointment letter stating one thing, and in the course of employment think we're above the terms and conditions clearly stated in the letter so need to change it to suit our preference. Yes, that's how different we are!
We're so different from elsewhere that when concerned service personnel express their displeasure, they are tagged with an opposing party's colours. Yes, that's how different we are... Such that you can't qualify as a citizen if you ever speak against the government!
It's nothing short of a shame for well learned government appointees to make such claims on national television!
What will be the essence of the years spent in tertiary education if we can't find enough voice to question a policy that is supposedly in our best interest but we think otherwise?
What will be the essence in spending so much in tertiary education (which my recent past V.C considers a privilege), if we can't identify a bogus policy from one that can truly be of benefit?
What will be the essence of all the education we've had (including the free SHS periods) if we're to gulp everything we're given without question?
Mr. President, I doubt that's the future leader you want for this nation.
All we seek for is a review on this policy... make it optional and you'll still get personnel to patronize it. In as much as insurance is very important in this 21st century, it's not forced on any individual anywhere in the world! To think one wouldn't be privy to a policy he's signed on to would be too appalling to comprehend! I wouldn't like to go into the legalities of NASPA as an association in making such a decision for over 90000 service personnel and the millions to join in the years to come.
In fact, trying to make this policy a juicy one by adding other packages from MTN Ghana and free tickets to the cinema explain how much the review is needed.
Don't forget that not all service personnel are fresh graduates. Some are fully grown and gainfully employed men and women who still see the need to rightfully serve their nation. What makes anyone think they may not have an insurance of their own already?
In conclusion, Mr. President, I know you've definitely seen our plea and outrage already since this policy was launched. We'd be glad if you could reassure us of your desire to make the youth of this nation better people to handle the affairs of this nation by calling for a review of this policy.
Thank you.
Your citizen and not spectator.
Haruna (BarristerKobby)
Concerned Service Personnel.
