African Countries Blame Everyone Except Poor Leadership & Corruption For Deforestation & Used Clothing Dumping
Anyone who's ever lived in an African country knows that you can get away with murder in some of these countries
Thursday, 15 June 2023
By: TB Obwoge
Most Americans or Westerners donate clothing NOT thinking it'll be resold for high prices on a continent away from their homes. Nor would they imagine that they're clothing would fill African landfills, choking the life out of African citizens.
Ghana which accepts some of the largest amounts of used clothing on the entire African continent. Corruption is very high and the reports don't tell the truth of what foreigners and citizens living in these African countries face, Ghana being worse than the reports are telling the world.
Each week, Ghana receives 15 million items of used clothing sent from the West. But 40% of the products are discarded due to poor quality. They end up at landfills and in bodies of water, polluting entire ecosystems.
Ghana isn't a dumping ground they receive used clothing from the West. It's sold in stores, one store owned by a group of Lebanese. They're not sneaking in tons of clothing, Ghana custom's officers aren't being beaten over the head and killed to accept used clothing.
The clothing is used, looks used and is being sold at some of the highest prices for many Africans to be able to afford. In Kenya & other Africans countries the same thing is happening. This author has watched it first hand in these 2 African countries.
For an example of Ghanians income, the national rate for a Ghanian worker is 14.88 Cedis a day the exchange rate often changes according to the USD. However 14.88 GHC is around $1.20 cents a day minimum wage.
I've met Ghanians that make as little as $50 USD a month to $250 USD a month, that is monthly salary. Imagine that shirt's price is almost like $50 USD, to someone making 350 GHC a month, or 2,000 GHC.
How can they afford a second hand shirt for 49.99 GHC?
The government allows employers to under pay their citizens, that daily minimum wage is new. Yes, the MP's in the Ghana government think they're doing their citizens a favor.
Government officials who are given free V8 vehicles, free housing, free fuel, utilities paid. These overpaid government officials who barely do anything in their elected positions. A anti-LGTBQ bill is what some have been working on for over 3 years.
While women in Ghana are being murdered and making the news daily. Girls are being charged 'rape fees' in order to go to the police to report a rape. Most rapes go unreported, when they're unreported there aren't any statistics to work off. Ghanians laugh at issues like rape and think that there aren't any because they're not reported in the news.
While staying in a hotel in Tumu, which is the most northern part of Ghana, the town shares a border with Burkina Faso, I was awakened by the screams of a young child. Someone doing something to her and her cries went on for over 45 minutes.
I was in the dark as the hotel had no electricity and I heard footsteps outside of my room door. The person was wearing flip flops, the clicking could be clearly heard. The hotel door also had a screen, someone opened it as well.
These are all examples of how laws in some African countries are not enforced.
This is what has been first hand told to this author. One Ghanian man even went as far to say that there are no murders in Ghana, his reasoning was because he didn't see it on the news.
This goes the same for illegal mining in Ghana, which they've given the name 'Galamsey', there have been many rumors of government officials involved in the practice of illegal mining. The same goes for local chiefs but not many ever face punishment.
April 25 - Galamsey Menace: "Investigate allegations levelled against some government officials" MP petitions CHRAJ
Cameroon is no difference, the President Paul Biya has been in power for 40-years and the state of the countries corruption is horrible. West African nations with rich resources aside from Nigeria aren't performing at their highest means.
These are some of the most mineral rich countries in the world, corruption continues to be the reason why they're still struggling in poverty. The wealth is there but those in power are thieves.
Ghana's President Akufo-Addo even said that there was no corruption within his government.
In an interview with CNN news correspondent Zain Asher, back on Monday, May 3, 2021 this is the statement he made:
“One of your important mandate aside from fixing the economy is of course tackling corruption, are you proud the way your government has dealt with corruption, what steps specifically have you made in trying root it out?” she asked.
In his response, President Akufo-Addo indicated that his fight against corruption had resulted in Ghana’s improvement in corruption rankings.
“Am I satisfied that we’ve been effective? I will say yes. A lot has been done, and it has reflected in Ghana’s growing position and rankings of corruption in the world. We’ve gone up several notches since I came into office because we are dealing with these matters at the basic level,” the president said.
However corruption in Ghana is at 81.6% and has been unchanged in over 3 years of his leadership. Not only the leadership Ghana MP Sam George said he paid his way into his political seat and he also said the average Ghanian is corrupted.
May 8 - Prez. Akufo -Addo and Dr. Bawumia's gov't only left Corruption, Nepotism, Galamsey, and Economic Retrogression as legacies - Alhaji Nasiru
Ghana continues to stagnate with a score of 43 on the Corruption Perception Index 2022, ranked at 72 among 180 countries, released by Transparency International (TI). In the 2021 Index, the country scored 43 and ranked at 73.
The Index released today January 31, 2023 shows that most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption: 95 per cent of countries have made little to no progress since 2017, it said.
May 16 - 7 dead, 4 Rescued and 17 Trapped in Galamsey Pit at Domeabra
Corruption in other African countries:
A regional average score of 32 out of 100 marks another year of stagnation on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for Sub-Saharan Africa. Forty-four of the 49 countries assessed still score below 50. Gains made by a few countries are outweighed by significant declines in others.
This year’s CPI results underline how intertwined paths of democracy, security and development in Sub-Saharan Africa are eroded by corruption – particularly during a time of global crises. The region struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased cost of living. Extensive funds are needed to address the consequences of economic, ecological and healthcare challenges, and they must not be lost to corruption.
Seychelles continues to lead the region with a CPI score of 70, followed by Botswana and Cabo Verde, each with 60. Burundi (17), Equatorial Guinea (17), South Sudan (13) and Somalia (12) perform the lowest.
Used clothing isn't sneaking into African countries, I once spotted an article that claimed Europe is Africa's dumping ground for used clothing. Which is a lie and I've met several Africans living in the United States that deal in selling used clothing.
Africans who are taking advantage of high corruption and their African brothers & sisters desire to dress in western clothing.
©️TB Obwoge 2023 All Rights Reserved
About the Creator
IwriteMywrongs
I'm the president of a nonprofit. I've lived in 3 countries, I love to travel, take photos and help children and women around the world! One day I pray an end to Child Marriages, Rape and a start to equal Education for ALL children 🙏🏽
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