In three years, life will begin again for me according to the laws of ageing. It will also be 60 years since Ghana gained independence. I have only been here for 6 of those years but it feels like the days behind me are much better than those ahead of me.

Dum-sor (off-on) has returned with a vengeance. For the past three nights I have resigned myself to the fact that I will go home to no light and no food so I need to eat heavily throughout the day. On Wednesday it went off in my area at 6pm and returned at 11pm. The second night 6pm and returned at 6am (it was fun having my cold shower in the dark). I got home after 6pm yesterday and thought surely it can’t be three days in a row. Well it was, at 6.41 as I got to the house, light off again, returning at midnight. Then just to add insult to injury, it went off at 7.30am, well on the plus side, I should be expecting light this evening.

The reason for this power crisis is because the Nigerians who provide us with our gas supply are on strike due to labour issues. The power plant which is expected to ensure that we have consistent supply is 99.7% ready and only the good Lord knows when that 0.3% will arrive. So the country is plunged into darkness, we don’t know when it will happen as the schedule is not ready so we just wait in hope that at least we have a few hours of electricity and our houses don’t burn down due to an electrical fault. 500 megawatts has had to be shed, they are having to buy very expensive crude oil and well to the rest of us, we are paying electricity for no light.

What I don’t understand is why we rely on a country that doesn’t have a stable generation supply. Why electricity which is an integral basic amenity, yet there is no plan B, we either get it or we don’t and when we don’t it comes with a load of excuses to boot. This issue is the same issue that we have been facing for the past 2 years; the government has been in post for 6 years now, time to stop blaming the failings of the previous government and start finding solutions and fast.

The British colony left the country 57 years ago, they gave us nice roads, a good infrastructure, running water and electricity, Ghana said thank you, we can take it from here, but then from what I can see, she went to sleep. Then she woke up, the place had expanded and she has been running around like a headless chicken trying to catch up ever since.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that the population will increase, that technology is growing, that industries are broadening, so why sit on your arse and wait until the last minute to make sure that you do your part to ensure that the country adapts too.

They say it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better and the government has asked the country to make sacrifices, if I was opposition, now would be the right time to get their shit together and come up with their manifesto. However, this is Africa, they have their own issues.

In one corner there is Nana Addo-Akuffo Ado. The current flagbearer, he has tried twice and failed twice to get the presidency. To be fair, the first time was after an 8 year rule under the NPP. It was so close during the first round that we went to the polls again, and even at that the NDC came in with a very close margin. The second time, again very close, but as I predicted, President Mills died a few months prior to elections after a long illness and they got the sympathy vote, it was a case of give him a chance to do something. More fool the 5 point something million who decide that. Nana held various positions during the NPP tenure including Attorney-General and foreign minister.

In the other corner is Alan Kweremanting, a business man, please don’t ask me what he does throughout the 4 years but from what I see, he pops up every 4 years to contest the elections. I can’t really say much about him except that he has been out a while. However, he has a good following and hopefully on October 18th 2014 we will find out who will be the NPP flag-bearer.

There was a further 5 others who contested for the position (an improvement to 2008 where 17 in total were gunning for the position).

Unfortunately as with anything that involves black folk, there has been a lot of mudslinging. Not from the contestants themselves but from their foot soldiers and followers. I just pray that once they vote for the flag-bearer they will all band behind the aspirant and strategise a strong vision for the future of this country.
In the meantime, those of us who have a choice are thinking of, or have already dropped off this sinking ship. Even my Nigerian friends have gone back home, well I guess you might as well be treated poorly by your own than someone else.

For those who don’t have the choice, they are riding the storm and praying for better days.
The national anthem has probably not meant more than it ever has right now. God bless our homeland Ghana!.